At Greatful Moments, we believe some of the most important conversations are the ones that can help families feel a little more prepared for the unexpected.
Emergencies don’t always happen when a doctor, nurse, EMT, or other trained professional is standing nearby. Sometimes the person who is there first is a parent, teenager, young adult, teacher, coworker, friend, or complete stranger.
That is why we were interested in speaking with Kiera Newbury, an emergency medical technician, healthcare advocate, and author whose work focuses on emergency preparedness, lifesaving skills, and the human impact of the moments when someone needs help.
Kiera is the co-author of The Saved Effect: True Stories of Lives Reclaimed by People Who Were Willing to Act, published by Mission Driven Press on August 18, 2026.
We invited Kiera to Greatful Moments for a written Q&A about what ordinary people can do during an emergency, why people sometimes freeze when something frightening happens, and how preparation can give us the confidence to act.
Meet Kiera Newbury
Kiera Newbury is a nationally registered EMT with a background in psychology, healthcare advocacy, research, and public education.
Her work has included projects connecting science, emergency medicine, and public awareness, including work with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Disaster Medicine Fellowship.
Through her professional experience and writing, Kiera has focused on helping people understand that emergency preparedness isn’t simply something for healthcare professionals. It is something families and communities can learn and practice together.
Her message is especially important for young people. Teenagers and young adults may find themselves in an emergency before a professional responder arrives, and knowing what to do can turn a frightening moment into an opportunity to help.
About The Saved Effect
The Saved Effect: True Stories of Lives Reclaimed by People Who Were Willing to Act explores what happens after someone saves a life.
A lifesaving intervention doesn’t affect only the person who survives. It can affect parents, children, spouses, siblings, friends, rescuers, communities, and generations that follow.
The book draws from real stories involving survivors, rescuers, and families and examines the ripple effect created when someone is willing to act.
We wanted to talk with Kiera about that idea because emergency preparedness is about more than learning a skill. It is also about understanding that you may be the person who is there when someone needs help.
Our Conversation With Kiera Newbury
1. When an emergency happens, the first few moments can be critical. What do you wish every parent, teenager, and young adult understood about what they can do while waiting for professional help to arrive?
Kiera: The biggest thing I wish people understood is that you don’t have to wait helplessly for someone more qualified to arrive. In many emergencies, the person standing nearby is the first link in the chain of survival. Calling 911, recognizing that something is seriously wrong, starting CPR, using an AED, controlling severe bleeding, or even simply following the dispatcher’s instructions can make an enormous difference.
One of the messages we really wanted to communicate in The Saved Effect is that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary action. You don’t need a medical degree to save someone’s life. You need to recognize that you have a role to play and be willing to step into it.
2. Many people are afraid they will do the wrong thing in an emergency and freeze. Why does that happen, and how can learning basic lifesaving skills help someone move from fear to action?
Kiera: Freezing is a very human response. When something terrifying happens unexpectedly, your brain is suddenly trying to process an enormous amount of information while your body is having its own stress response. People can become overwhelmed by thoughts like, “What if I hurt them?” or “What if I do this wrong?”
Training gives your brain somewhere to go. Instead of encountering a completely unfamiliar situation, there’s a moment of recognition where one might say to themselves, “I know what is happening. I have seen this before. I know what to do.”
And you don’t have to feel fearless to act. That distinction is really important. The people in The Saved Effect weren’t necessarily calm or unafraid. Many were terrified. What mattered was that they acted anyway. Preparation doesn’t necessarily eliminate fear, it gives you something to fall back on despite it.
3. CPR and emergency preparedness are often thought of as skills for healthcare professionals, but ordinary people are frequently the ones present first. What are the most important lifesaving skills you believe everyone should learn?
Kiera: CPR and how to use an AED would be at the top of my list. Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, and immediate action from a bystander is incredibly important. I also think everyone should know how to recognize and respond to choking, which most of the times is apart of CPR education and certification courses.
But beyond individual skills, I want people to learn how to respond. I want people to be aware of where the AED is when you walk into a gym, school, workplace, or community building. Know your address when you’re somewhere unfamiliar. Put your phone on speaker when you’re talking to a 911 dispatcher so your hands are free. Understand that the dispatcher can help guide you through what to do.
Preparedness isn’t about expecting yourself to become a healthcare worker. It’s about giving yourself enough knowledge to do something meaningful until one arrives.
4. An emergency doesn’t end when the ambulance arrives. What are some of the emotional and mental effects an emergency can have on survivors, families, and even the person who stepped in to help?
Kiera: This is something I think we don’t talk about enough. We tend to tell emergency stories as though there is a clear ending where maybe someone collapses, someone intervenes, the ambulance arrives, and the person survives. But for everyone involved, that can actually be the beginning of another part of the experience.
Survivors and their families may process fear, anxiety, uncertainty, or the realization of how close they came to losing someone. And rescuers can be affected too. They may replay what happened, question whether they did everything correctly, or carry the emotional weight of suddenly being responsible for another person’s life.
One of the things writing this book has showed me is how deeply connected people can become through these moments. Saving a life doesn’t only affect the person who survives. There can be this ripple effect through families, rescuers, communities, and even people who hear the story years later. That’s part of why we called the book The Saved Effect.
5. If you could give every family one piece of advice about becoming more prepared for an unexpected medical emergency, what would you want them to do today?
Kiera: Take a CPR/AED class together.
Don’t wait until you think you’ll need it, because none of us gets to schedule the moment when someone we love has an emergency. And I would especially encourage parents to include their teenagers. Young people are far more capable than we sometimes give them credit for.
You may take that class and never have to use those skills, and I hope you don’t. But if there ever comes a moment when someone you love, or even a complete stranger, needs help, you don’t want your first thought to be, “I wish I knew what to do.”
A Final Thought
There is something powerful about Kiera’s reminder that preparedness does not mean we won’t be afraid.
It means that when something unexpected happens, we may have something to fall back on.
None of us can schedule an emergency. We can’t know when someone around us might collapse, choke, experience a cardiac emergency, suffer a serious injury, or need immediate help.
But we can choose to learn.
We can learn CPR. We can learn how to use an AED. We can learn what to do when someone is choking. We can learn where emergency equipment is located in the places where our families spend time. We can teach our teenagers that they are capable of helping.
And perhaps most importantly, we can talk about these things before we need them.
Kiera’s message through The Saved Effect is a reminder that one person’s willingness to act can have consequences that extend far beyond that single moment.
Sometimes, being prepared means being willing to step forward.
About The Saved Effect
Title: The Saved Effect: True Stories of Lives Reclaimed by People Who Were Willing to Act
Authors: Kiera Newbury and Brad Newbury
Publisher: Mission Driven Press
Publication Date: August 18, 2026
If you would like to learn more about Kiera Newbury and The Saved Effect, visit the author’s website and look for the book wherever books are sold.
Thank You, Kiera
A special thank-you to Kiera Newbury for taking the time to answer our questions and to Johanna Ramos-Boyer, Erin Bolden, and the JRB Communications team for working with Greatful Moments on this feature.
We appreciate Kiera sharing her knowledge and perspective with our readers and reminding us that lifesaving skills aren’t only for professionals.
A little preparation today could make a difference on a day none of us expects.
Disclosure
Greatful Moments received information and/or a copy of The Saved Effect for consideration. All opinions and editorial decisions are our own. This interview was conducted in writing, and Kiera Newbury’s responses have been presented as provided.
