While finishing up a report in the basement of the Gilford Police Station On the evening of June 28 Monday, O’Neill was dispatched to the Keith residence for a man who was unresponsive and not breathing.
Arriving at the house, he got the first aid kit along with the automatic electronic defibrillator out of the car’s truck.
Walking inside the house, he came across the adult laying on his back in a screened-in-portch with another person on the phone with 9-1-1.
This man laying on the floor was motionless and was identified as Rowland Keith.
“Just looking at him I did a quick assessment and it was clear I had to put the AED on him,” said O’Neill.
With family being a priority to him in his own life, O’Neill wanted to do all in his power to help Keith, but also help his family.
Deputy Chief Kevin Keenan was also on scene. With time meaning the difference between life and death, O’Neill told Keenan to cut off Keith’s shirt and proceeded to place the defibrillator pads on Keith’s body.
O’Neill said as soon as he turn the unit on, it advised him to shock Keith immediately, something he was not expecting.
“That completely took me off-guard because I’ve put the unit on people before and it assesses the patient for a few seconds first,” said O’Neill. “It told me to shock him again, at which point I told his son to let go of his father’s hand and made sure I was clear and I shocked him.”
After delivering the shock, the system advised O’Neill to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until other emergency personnel arrived.
The Laconia Fire Department was on scene first followed by the Gilford Fire Department which was on another call when this incident occurred. O’Neill said it was the greatest feeling to see a dozen firefighters on scene helping, but even greater was seeing Keith beginning to move and function on his own.
“Little by little he just started to come back to life on his own,” said O’Neill. “By the time they put him on the stretcher to bring him out to the ambulance, he was moving his arms and talking. It was awesome to see it come a complete one-eighty.”
“I’m just thankful for the way it played out and he did come back,” he said. “He doing good now. He was released from the hospital the next day.”
“CPR alone wouldn’t have been able to do what the AED did,” said O’Neill.
