Consuelo's Place shelter staffer honored by Red Cross for lifesaving aid to client

Aug. 26—Melissa Samaniego was calm in the early hours of May 19 when a resident of the midtown Consuelo's Place shelter rushed to the front desk, where she was working the graveyard shift.

The woman screamed that her partner was unresponsive in their room.

After calling 911, Samaniego administered the opioid overdose reversal drug nalaxone to the man and then began performing CPR. She had administered a second dose of naloxone by the time emergency personnel arrived at the homeless shelter, and the man had regained consciousness.

"And now, I'm sweating," Samaniego said with a laugh Monday morning as she was honored by the American Red Cross for her actions that day. She was given the Red Cross Lifesaving Award — the organization's highest honor for professional responders.

Though more uncomfortable in the spotlight than under pressure, 26-year-old Samaniego said she was honored to be recognized and hoped her story would help encourage more people to become CPR trained.

An employee of Consuelo's Place for the past four years, she had gone through a CPR recertification training just one month prior to the incident.

Kathy Segura-Salas, Red Cross executive director for New Mexico, said this is the first time in her 23 years with the organization she has given the top award in Santa Fe.

Samaniego, a Santa Fe native, said she was proud to represent her hometown in a positive light. "It makes me happy I can give it that recognition that it deserves," she said. "There's a lot of workers out here that are trying really hard."

Mayor Alan Webber, who attended the ceremony Monday, described Samaniego as a hero.

"You saved someone who otherwise wouldn't have made it, and that's amazing," Webber said.

The partner of the man whose life Samaniego saved also spoke briefly at the ceremony.

"Thanks for being there," she said before tearfully hugging Samaniego.

Samaniego has worked at Consuelo's Place since it opened as an emergency shelter during the coronavirus pandemic, and previously worked at St. Elizabeth Shelters' Casa Familia, a shelter for women and families, and the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete's Place.

She said she's administered emergency first aid before, but this was her first time receiving an award.

Samaniego is an advocate for CPR training.

"Everyone needs to be CPR trained, I think," she said. "You never knew when you're going to have to jump into action."

Consuelo's Place manager Michele Williams said the shelter, which serves 80 to 90 clients at a time, is used to providing medical care, and all employees receive CPR training — though, Samaniego was the first to use the practice to save a life.

"We always have medical things here because about half our population is over age 55," Williams said. "Homeless and over 55 is usually pretty high medical needs."

She said the man who nearly lost his life there had battled addiction for "a very long time." While shelter staff are uncertain of his medical condition, they believe it was tied to an opioid overdose because he responded to the nalaxone Samaniego administered, she added.

Residents are not permitted to have illegal substances on shelter premises, she noted.

Williams, who had nominated Samaniego for the Red Cross award, said, "She knows everybody by name and something personal or unique about each of the clients. ... She's a very caring individual and very attentive to everybody."

Samaniego's actions during the emergency speak to who she is as both a person and an employee, Williams added.

"We know what everybody is like in a normal work environment; you don't know how someone will react under stress," she said. "And she was a rock star."