Felisha Cooper had only been on the job as an advanced medical support assistant at VA for a few months when she received a life-changing phone call. A Veteran with dangerously high blood sugar had become disoriented and was calling from the parking lot of G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. As Cooper gave him directions, she noticed that his alertness was deteriorating, and he had begun slurring his words. When he suddenly said he was going to \u201cclear his head and go home,\u201d Cooper calmly explained why he needed to stay. \u201cI was a bit anxious at first, but I knew I had to step into action for the safety of the Veteran. The conversation went from convincing him not to leave to calling out for help,\u201d Cooper said. Cooper remained on the line while her colleagues rushed outside to search. She was able to get information about his car to help the search party locate him. \u201cI heard screaming in the background and heard they had found the car,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cThe Veteran was unresponsive and slumped over the steering wheel.\u201d After being swiftly transported to the emergency department and admitted to the hospital for treatment, the Veteran has since made a full recovery. The daughter of an Army Veteran who worked at VA for more than 30 years, Cooper always knew VA was the place for her, too. \u201cI just wanted to return the service to our Veterans,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cOur Veterans have served and protected our country, so we need to make certain that we are willing to serve and protect them.\u201d After caring for her father through his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Cooper vowed that if she ever got a job at VA, she would take care of every Veteran with the same commitment. \u201cThe most rewarding thing I find is being able to help Veterans find answers and become advocates for themselves. Sometimes, educating on available programs and various tools gives them more freedom and control over their own health care,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ms. Cooper assisted a Veteran with dangerously high blood sugar who had become disoriented and was calling for help. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"i-care-value":[10],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icare-in-action","i-care-value-integrity"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/icare\/felisha-cooper\/","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Felisha Cooper","url":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/icare\/felisha-cooper\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/icare\/felisha-cooper\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/icare\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2024\/06\/fcooper-upscale_99b39d.jpg?w=240","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/icare\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2024\/06\/fcooper-upscale_99b39d.jpg"},"articleSection":"ICARE in Action","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Department of Veterans Affairs (smw)"}],"creator":["Department of Veterans Affairs (smw)"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"I CARE","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2024-06-22T00:43:53Z","datePublished":"2024-06-22T00:43:53Z","dateModified":"2024-06-23T17:21:03Z"},"rendered":"