Atrium Health Floyd Nurse Earns Wonder Woman Status
Quincy Knapp-Weimer Provides Timely CPR
ROME, Ga., April 15, 2025 – Quincy Knapp-Weimer can’t get more than a few words into the story before tears start to flow.
The Atrium Health Floyd licensed practical nurse was walking toward the Floyd Medical Center cafeteria to get a roll for one of her patients, or in her words, “one of my sweet little grandmas.” She had just reached the security desk near the hospital’s main entrance when she heard a distinctive sound. It was a sound she had heard before.
Someone had fallen and their head had struck the hard concrete at the front of the hospital.
The nurse turned immediately and saw someone lying in the doorway of the hospital. She ran to the person and saw that the person was an elderly woman. Her complexion was quickly turning to blue. Knapp-Weimer checked for a pulse – the woman’s heart was not beating. Her breathing was labored and ragged. She immediately started CPR, relinquishing her spot at the patient’s side only when a Rapid Response team arrived.
It was the first time Knapp-Weimer, who has been a nurse for five years, had ever used her CPR training.
The patient was taken to the Emergency Care Center where her heartbeat was restored, and she was transferred later to the intensive care unit (ICU).
An unfortunate COVID infection kept the nurse away from work for a couple of weeks, but when she returned, she decided to check on the patient whose life she had helped save. The patient was still hospitalized in the ICU.
A nurse friend introduced Knapp-Weimer to the patient, explaining she was the person who had initiated CPR when her heart stopped. The patient began to cry and asked the nurse to visit her the next day to meet her daughter.
Knapp-Weimer did as her patient requested and was both comforted and surprised when the patient was able to introduce her to her daughter by name – an encouraging sign that her brain function had been preserved, despite her heart stopping.
The patient’s daughter had a gift for her to acknowledge her critical role in saving her mother’s life. It was a badge reel, a retractable clip used to hold an identification badge to your collar.
Knapp-Weimer smiled, thanked her patient and her daughter, and admired the simple gift. The reel was bright red and yellow with two Ws stacked, one directly on top of the other – the DC Comics Wonder Woman logo.
Atrium Health Floyd has a specific badge reel teammates are requested to wear, but the patient insisted Knapp-Weimer clip the reel to her collar before leaving.
“We call her our super woman,” the patient’s daughter said. “Quincy is our saving grace. When I finally met Quincy, I was in tears. I told her, ‘You are our hero, and you don’t meet those very often.’ We are forever grateful for Quincy and everybody who took part in that day. If it had not been for them, we would not have my mom today.”
