First Aid Corps

The 6-7, 218-pounder Tennessee sophomore forward Emmanuel Negedu had finished a workout in the weight room and was leaving the complex with teammate Bobby Maze en route to a pick-up basketball game when he lost consciousness.

Emmanuel Negedu the Survivor

Negedu had gone through a more strenuous Monday morning workout and attended classes before returning to the UT weight room for a light session of upper-body strength training.

He did not complain of any pains, nor did he exhibit any warning signs before collapsing, according to witnesses.

He collapsed around 4:00 p.m. when according to university officials, his heart stopped beating.

Team trainers quickly retrieved a nearby automated external defibrillator and revived him.

Negedu, known to coaches, teammates and fans as “E-Man,” was conscious when he was transported to UT Medical Center.

He was undergoing an extensive battery of diagnostic tests and was to be held there overnight for observation, according to Vols’ associate athletic trainer Chad Newman.

Bruce Pearl, University of Tennessee Basketball Coach says “He is awake, he is alert and he is in very good spirits.”

John Culshaw, aged 72, of Lakeside, has been running for the club since 1979 and was competing at an event in Nuneaton when he fell ill.

He had just finished sixth in the men’s over-50s speed walk when he collapsed and his heart stopped.

A fireman and doctor from a nearby club rushed to his aid and administered CPR before a defibrillator was fetched from Pingles Leisure Centre.

John told the Herald: “Basically, I’m lucky to be alive. Apparently the arteries to my heart were blocked. I was diagnosed with angina in 1997, but had no symptoms and it did not need treatment.”

The incident happened on August 12. John was rushed to Coventry’s University Hospital where he underwent a triple heart bypass.

He is now recovering at home, walking three miles a day and doctors say he should be back competing within four months.

He said: “My vest had to be cut from me when I collapsed, and the club have bought me a new one – so they are expecting me back!”

On Sept. 18, as 71-year-old George Allison was in the back seat of his son Craig Allison’s car driving on Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., he suffered sudden cardiac arrest.

George Allison (right) the Survivor

“We had just finished some conversation and there was some quiet time. Within about 30 seconds my son turned around,” said Barbara, who was riding in the front seat.

From the look on Craig’s face, she said, she knew something terrible was happening.

Her husband of nearly 50 years wasn’t breathing.

Craig pulled the car to the shoulder and yanked his father’s body from the back seat and tried to administer the Heimlich maneuver, thinking his father had choked on a peanut.

“My daughter-in-law got out and she was screaming for help. Her cell phone wouldn’t work,” said Barbara. “Craig pulled him out of the car and laid him on the ground, and the people showed up.”

Those people were strangers Daniel Lapidus, a San Luis Obispo dentist who had recently finished his active duty with the Air Force, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, and Marisela Campos, a public health employee working toward a degree in nursing.

“He wasn’t breathing, and he didn’t have a pulse,” Lapidus told the Tribune. “I knew we had to give him CPR.”

Lapidus started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and Campos began chest compressions.

Barbara Allison said the two strangers worked for eight minutes to try to get her husband to breathe again.

A California Highway Patrol trooper arrived on scene and hit George with a defibrillator, which sends an electric shock to the heart.

George was rushed to a nearby hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to implant a defibrillator in his chest.

By Monday, he and his wife were home.

“The most memorable part of this is the people and how they reacted — the lady, the dentist and the highway patrolman — the things they did. They didn’t hesitate. They didn’t ask,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. “All of those things needed to come together just right, and they did.”

“Eight minutes of CPR is a very long time and almost never happens,” said Barbara. “There are very few who could have lived under these circumstances.”

“They were my guardian angels,” said George.

On that particular Saturday morning two weeks ago, Mr. Silverman, 61, Beth El Congregation’s first vice president, was serving as the gabbai, the honorary synagogue member who coordinates services. The synagogue had a double-b’nai mitzvah and a baby-naming ceremony that morning and the first aliyah had just been called up to the bimah.

Steve Silverman the Survivor

Around that time, Mr. Silverman recalled leaning over to Art Wien, director of Beth El’s b’nai mitzvah program, saying, “I’m in trouble.” After that, he said he has no recollection of anything until hours later when he woke up in a hospital.

But congregants in the main sanctuary said they saw Mr. Silverman stumble and fall to the floor.

“I saw Mr. Silverman’s body position didn’t look right. I walked briskly to [the bimah] and heard the sound he was making. It was very serious,” said Len Newman, an emergency medical technician who volunteers for the Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Dept.

Fortunately, the Pikesville synagogue owns three automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

Mr. Kleiner said he had stepped out of the sanctuary minutes earlier. A congregant raced to find him, and within three minutes from the time Mr. Silverman fell, Mr. Kleiner ran in with an AED.

Mr. Newman, who was giving CPR to Mr. Silverman, administered the defibrillator.

It took about 11 1/2 minutes from the time Mr. Silverman collapsed until an ambulance arrived and EMTs administered intravenous drugs and hooked him up to a heart monitor.

But it was the congregation’s defibrillator that likely saved Mr. Silverman’s life, according to Mr. Newman.

For this High Holiday season, Mr. Silverman said he will be particularly reflective. “One of the images brought home on the holidays is the picture of God as a shepherd,” he said. “In my mind, I keep going back that I am one of the sheep and God took a look and said, ‘Maybe this is the time to scare the hell out of him, not the time for him to die.’”

Patti Davis works at the Fort Wayne Community Center.

Patti Davis (left) the Saviour

The gentleman was playing cards at the center when he went into cardiac arrest.

Patti and the other staff members quickly responded to his aid, using an Automatic External Defibrillator to restart his heart.

“I don’t think you think when you do it. You just go and follow and remember your training that we all get here at the Community Center,” said Davis. “You just go through it and hope for the best, and it was the best this time.”

With Patti’s initial response and paramedics’ expertise, it took only seven minutes to get the man breathing again on his own.

Mr John Parlatt was in the pool at Southwell Leisure Centre when Mr Paul Smith was taken ill during an over-50s’ session.

Lifeguards got Mr Smith out of the water and helped Mr Parlatt, a member of Southwell Defibrillator Group, to resuscitate him.

Mr Parlatt (56) of Crafts Way, Southwell, said: “I realised the man was blue around the lips and wasn’t breathing so I started CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) and asked one of the lifeguards to phone for an ambulance and get the leisure centre’s defibrillator, while I got another of the lifeguards to hold back the man’s head to keep his airway clear.”

Mr Parlatt used the defibrillator to shock Mr Smith’s heart.

Mr Parlatt said: “The man started gurgling a little but a few seconds later he stopped breathing again so we continued with resuscitation.”

“Thankfully he came round so we put him in the recovery position.”

Mr Smith (51) of Springfield Road, was taken to Lincoln County Hospital by air ambulance and was allowed home on Wednesday.

His sister, Mrs Jean Dodsworth, of Arnold Avenue, said he remembered little about the incident.

She said: “He had just done one length when he thought there was a lot of splashing around him, which he now realises was him, and the next thing he remembers is being on the side of the pool.

“He said he was so grateful that the people in the pool at the time acted so quickly and the person who administered the defibrillator obviously knew what he was doing. He really was a life-saver.

“If this had happened when my brother was out walking he wouldn’t be here so I cannot thank the people at the pool enough.”

Mr Parlatt, who helped to found the defibrillator group about five years ago, said: “It was a great outcome because he survived and is recovering.

“I don’t think you can ever get used to attending incidents like this because every person and situation is different.

“I would like to praise the boys from the leisure centre because they really were very alert to see the man in difficulty.”

John Morse, 53, had just dumped the remnants of a burned home inside the transfer station when he suddenly slumped behind the wheel of his dump truck.

The truck crashed through a concrete barrier and hit a parked semitrailer before coming to a stop.

Rogue Transfer and Recycling risk manager Mike Messenger was inside his office when a frantic disposal worker called saying chaos had broken out inside the transfer station.

“When I learned it was possibly a heart attack I asked a co-worker to grab the (heart defibrillator),” Messenger said. “We got it four years ago and that day it proved it was worth every penny.”

When Morse was pulled from the truck he was not breathing and had turned blue.

Matt Weis of Medford was tossing out a load of yard waste when he saw the scene unfold.

Weis is trained in CPR and jogged to where Messenger and the others were beginning to work on Morse’s motionless body.

“In that situation you think there has to be someone better trained than you to handle things,” Weis said. “But it occurred to me that maybe I was ready to do this.”

Weis described Morse’s face as “being more blue than anyone I’d ever seen.”

Messenger attached the heart defibrillator pads to Morse. The machine reported there was not a heartbeat and suggested delivering a shock to restart the man’s heart.

After the shock, a weak heartbeat was detected. Messenger and Weis then traded off performing CPR for three and a half minutes before crews from Jackson County Fire District No. 3 arrived.

They rushed Morse to Rogue Valley Medical Center, where he was placed in the cardiac-care unit. He survived the attack with minor damage to his heart and is expected to make a slow, steady recovery, according to his wife, Debbie Morse.

“He was in the right place at the right time,” Debbie Morse said. “If he had been driving down the road when this happened, he could have killed himself and other people.”

Debbie Morse described Messenger and Weis as “angels” for their quick work that day.

She also said that all businesses should have a heart defibrillator on hand in case of emergencies.

“Those things should be everywhere,” she said. “It saved my husband’s life.”

John Morse returned home Saturday and was resting after his ordeal.

“We are so glad to have him home,” Debbie Morse said. “Those men who helped my husband are the reason he’s here right now.”

The 56-year-old man lay on the ice surrounded by his teammates after he suffered an apparent heart attack.

Dana Clarke the Saviour

Dana Clarke rushed to the ice surface and began to administer CPR.

He then used a defibrillator on the man when he couldn’t detect any vital signs.

“I realized quickly that he was unconscious, his eyes didn’t have much life to them, and his skin colour wasn’t very good. He wasn’t breathing,” said Clarke, 35, a city of Ottawa facilities operator at the Earl Armstrong Arena.

“I asked the teammates to remove his equipment because I needed a bare chest so I could start using the defibrillator machine on him.”

Clarke said he started performing CPR at the same time on the man and at first he wasn’t coming around.

Clarke didn’t panic, but said he activated the defibrillator and after a few moments the man appeared to be revived and he saw his mouth move and his eyes blink.

“So I asked his teammates that we need to talk to him in a loud manner. We started yelling, ‘Hey, André.’ Then he began to move his head slightly,” said Clarke, adding the victim wasn’t aware of what had happened to him.

“We’re talking to him for another minute or so, asking him questions. Then I said, ‘André, why are you here, what are you doing?’ All he could say was ‘hockey game.’ I said you’re right.”

Clarke said it was an “emotional experience” reviving the man from near death. It was something he’s never had to do before in his 20-year career as a city employee working at arenas and swimming pools.

“I have to thank the city for the training that they give us and having these defibrillator machines readily available and in close proximity. The whole process worked to save this gentleman’s life and I’m so glad we were able to do that.”

The man went to hospital and is reportedly in stable condition.

Justin Bryan Scott was working for Essential Energy Service Inc. of Clayton, N.C., to install new, energy-efficient lights in city schools.

He was on Athens High School gym’s second level at the top of some bleachers about 6:30 p.m. working on a light ballast when he was shocked, according to Powers and reports on the emergency scanner. He reportedly sat down on a bleacher and then collapsed.

Scott was in full cardiac arrest when Station 1 firefighters arrived, Athens Fire Chief Danny Southard said Tuesday.

They began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and used an automatic external defibrillator to shock Scott’s heart.

Their efforts restored Scott’s breathing and heart rate. Paramedics from Athens-Limestone Hospital then arrived and continued treatment. He was stabilized at Athens-Limestone Hospital then flown by MedFlight helicopter to Huntsville Hospital.

Southard credited the four first responders — Battalion Chief Mike Clem, Captain David Ledford, driver Neil Gooch and firefighter Aaron Harper — with reviving Scott.

On July 9, Peck, the Rockford IceHogs vice president of communications, and other members of the front office were in Chicago for a prospect camp at an ice rink near the United Center, home to the NHL’s Blackhawks. The IceHogs are the Hawks’ top minor league affiliate.

After a morning practice, the group went to lunch and then headed to the United Center, where Peck was busy lining up interviews with members of the Blackhawks organization.

Peck was standing outside the locker room when he collapsed.

IceHogs trainer DJ Jones was the first to reach Peck, and was quickly assisted by Blackhawks trainer Mike Gapski and assistant trainer Jeff Thomas.

Jones’ initial thought was that Peck had suffered a seizure.

“He was a bit convulsive,” he said. “He was making a moaning sound, his skin was ashen color, his lips were purple, and he wasn’t breathing enough to sustain himself.”

The trainers performed CPR and used an automated electronic defibrillator, or AED, to shock Peck’s heart before paramedics arrived.

“It was definitely a tense situation,” Jones said.

Peck was rushed to Cook County Hospital, and eventually transferred to Northwest Memorial. He was hospitalized for nine days.

“I don’t remember much of it,” Peck said. “But I was told I had cardiac arrest, and that I went into a coma for 10 to 12 hours.”

Doctors performed a battery of tests. They determined that Peck suffered from a condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.

Doctors surgically implanted a defibrillator, which is a pacemakerlike device, to monitor Peck’s heart beat and automatically deliver a shock if an arrhythmia occurs.

Doctors surgically implanted a defibrillator, which is a pacemakerlike device, to monitor Peck’s heart beat and automatically deliver a shock if an arrhythmia occurs.

Peck, who has been with the IceHogs for nine years, returned to work shortly after being released from the hospital.

Peck was named United Hockey League Broadcaster of the Year six years ago, and earned the league’s PR Director Award the next year.

Peck said his health won’t hinder his work behind the microphone. “If I don’t get excited, how can the fans get excited about what they’re listening to?” he said.

“The lifesaver in all of this was the AED unit,” Jones said. “We may have had a different outcome. The AED did its job.”

Peck said his health scare has opened his eyes to the important things in life. He and his wife, Andie, have a 17-month-old daughter named Maddie.

“I was really close to leaving my daughter without a father, and my wife without a husband,” he said. “I count my blessings every morning when I wake up. You can’t take anything for granted.”