First Aid Corps

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

The 23-year-old painter was atop a 20-foot-tall scissor lift with a co-worker, sanding the tail of an aircraft, when he blacked out from cardiac arrest.

Michael Loggins, Jesse Barnes, Anthony Hunt, David Lockhart, Gregory Moore, Brian Weaver and Tom Crabtree the Saviours

Once on the ground, he was successfully kept alive, using a combination of Cardiopul-monary Resuscitation and the AED, until medical help could arrive.

“There is a young person still enjoying life because people did what they were trained to do,” said Marcus Brown, public access defibrillator base coordinator. “It was a successful use.”

“He’s going to be OK,” said David Lockhart, aircraft painter and work team leader who used the AED to save his young co-worker. “If it hadn’t been for the AED, his two daughters would have been without a daddy.”

That afternoon Mr. Lockhart put his years of training on the AED to real-life use for the first time. Mr. Lockhart said his training dictated his actions.

“I took the AED and did my job,” he said.

The pads of the AED were applied to the victim, which advised the users to apply a shock. The unit then advised CPR for several minutes before noting a change in the victim’s heart rhythm. Another shock was administered, which restored the victim’s heart rhythm. Emergency Medical Services were on the scene within three minutes.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Shortly before 1 p.m., several travelers gathered at a Southwest Airlines gate waiting to board a plane to Nashville when one of the passengers, a man in his 50s, collapsed and appeared to suffer a seizure.

A flight attendant grabbed a defibrillator from the plane and handed it to Gamez who immediately began to operate the life-saving device.

Gamez, a 25-year Chicago police veteran who’s assigned to Midway, also began CPR along with a doctor who was at the gate. Gamez then used shock paddles to help revive him, just one week after the officer received the training on how to operate a defibrillator.

The man was taken to a local hospital where he was listed in stable condition and undergoing further treatment, police said.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

A 53-year-old North Andover man was sitting near Track 10 in the lobby area of the station at about 7 p.m. when he collapsed, according to a police report. He had suffered a cardiac arrest, said Transit Police Lieutenant Robert Lenehan.

Patricia Rogers and Alex Santos the Saviours

But thankfully Rogers is a nursing student and Santos is a medic in the Army. Also nearby was Candice Kruszkowski, a nurse from Children Hospital. The three raced to save the stranger.

“Somebody said he was going into a seizure and we moved him down to the ground and positioned him and he started turning blue, so we tried to open up an airway, check to see if he had a pulse,” Santos said.

“It happened so quickly, but it was so nice to have other people there with me, just to know there are people around that will help others,” nurse Patricia Rogers said.

“He was turning blue so he had no air going into him, so we just started CPR. You know it was cool because we had a team going. I started compressions she got the AED going,” Santos said.

Two transit police officers noticed the commotion. One ran to retrieve one of the newly installed automated external defibrillator devices, which deliver electrical shocks to revive victims of cardiac arrest. The good Samaritans continued CPR and used the defibrillator until an ambulance arrived, Lenehan said.

“It was a total team thing from the start all the way until EMS got there. And EMS did their thing and the transition was smooth,” Santos said.

“I kept seeing his wedding ring, so I knew somebody was out there. He has family and someone loves this man and was expecting him to come home,” Rogers said.

The man was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was listed in good condition on Thursday.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

About 4.45pm 22-year old Diarmuid O’Connell suddenly and without warning collapsed to the ground.

One eye witness told The Corkman that umpires immediately brought on a stretcher to the young man and quickly realised that his condition was serious.

Luckily, a portable defibrillator, bought for the Castlemagner club two years ago, which was just 20 yards away and was brought to his side. His two quick-acting team mates, Gearoid O’Leary and DJ Collins put their CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) and AED (Automated External Defibrillator) training to fast use.

“Gearoid and DJ knew that it was serious as Diarmuid was out cold and a defibrillator will not give a shock unless it is needed,” said an eyewitness. “The two boys working on Diarmaid remained calm and were in full control at all times. This all happened so suddenly and without warning. Everything that could be done was done and it was done efficiently.”

An ambulance went immediately to the pitch at Castlemagner, as did a doctor from Southdoc and the Gardai. The ambulance subsequently received a Garda escort to CUH.

Diarmuid works as a teacher in Rathmore and he started the game playing wing forward.

Millstreet referee Denis Hickey said he suddenly heard roaring and shouting. “It was a terrible shock and thankfully there was a defibrillator at Castlemagner,” he told The Corkman. “This is now a wake-up call to other clubs in the area who do not have one.”

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Sometime on Saturday night, Jan. 24, at the Delbarton School basketball court in Morristown, N.J., hearts stopped.

Well, just one actually stopped, but many others skipped a beat at least. Poly Prep’s starting senior point guard and leader on both ends of the court, Stephen Lazzaro, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during the opening quarter. “It was quite scary,” said assistant coach Glenn McCartney, who helped Lazzaro to the gym floor.

CPR, administered rapidly by Stephen’s dad and teammate Michael Kumar’s dad, Sampath Kumar M.D., both physicans, plus a defibrillator on the scene saved this young man’s life.

A Fund in the name of Stephen Lazzaro has been set up at SUNY Downstate for the purpose of raising monies for cardiovascular research to study valvular heart disease and arrhythmias.

Stephen has turned his attention from playing to helping the team by acting as a mentor to the younger players while helping Head Coach Bill McNally on the bench. He has been an inspiration to many while he rehabilitates from these recent events.