First Aid Corps

If Dan Herberger hadn’t saved the life of a stranger last month, he is confident that someone else would have.

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But as it happened, Herberger, a city firefighter and former longtime paramedic, was at the right place at the right time. It was Oct. 24 and he and his family were returning home from a vacation in Florida. They were at Orlando International Airport about to get something to eat.

Dan Herberger the Saviour

“I saw a lady collapse and heard there was some seizure activity,” he said Thursday. “It was a woman at a jewelry kiosk. I heard someone ask, ‘is she breathing?’ I went over there and took her pulse. She didn’t have one.”

Herberger began CPR on the woman as another traveler came over and identified herself as a nurse. Herberger had asked for an automated external defibrillator, which he figured would be somewhere in the airport.

The nurse unpacked the device and she and Herberger put the patches on the unconscious woman’s chest. He then waited for the AED to charge before pressing the button to shock her. There was a tense moment when the machine’s voice kept urging him to press the button, he said.

He and the nurse knew enough to stay clear so as not to get any of the residual jolt, he said. After the shock, he checked again. The woman had “a really strong, regular pulse.”

Meanwhile his wife was in line buying lunch at one food counter while his father was over at another one. His group also included his mom and three children.

“My wife is a nurse practitioner and when she saw me, she motioned ‘do you need me over there?’” he said. “I said no, just get my food.”

Despite the seriousness of the moment, he couldn’t help but think about getting his meal and catching the flight. He didn’t want to belittle the action, he said, but it really was no big deal. Not one to publicize his own good deeds, Herberger dropped the news to a co-worker, who in turn shared it with Chief Jim Maxwell.

“Dan’s efforts led to the woman leaving the terminal with a pulse,” Maxwell said.

Herberger, 38, joined the department in May 2002. During this incident, he was most impressed by how onlookers knew what a defibrillator was and that someone knew where to get it. He also felt the swift reaction of his training.

“You have the instinct to go into survival mode as a firefighter,” he said. “My years of experience definitely helps. Maybe 15 years ago as a bystander with no equipment, I may have been more unsure.”

His wife Cindy said it was “nice for me to see him in that other role,” besides husband and father. Working at a hospital in Buffalo, she has never been called to perform a medical service in public. She understood that it was something her husband would naturally do.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Dan got involved, because that’s the kind of person that he is,” she said. “I was proud of him.”

The family made its flight, but not without a note of irony, she said. There was an announcement that a life-saver was on board. Champagne was poured and fellow travelers applauded.

Then the toast was given to the nurse who had offered some minor assistance.

Republican Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) may have saved a life Tuesday morning by performing CPR on a man who collapsed in a Charlotte, N.C., airport.

Phil Roe the Saviour

Roe, who was a practicing OB/GYN before he was elected to Congress, was walking through the airport with fellow Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) when someone cried out about a man who had collapsed.

Roe immediately rushed over and began performing CPR in an attempt to save the man’s life. By the time Roe reached him, the man did not have a heartbeat.

The congressman “brought the man back to life — he was dead. The AED [automatic external defibrillator] machine showed that he was flat-lining,” Roe’s press secretary, Amanda Little, told POLITICO.

CPR was not successful in resuscitating the man, so when emergency medical technicians arrived shortly after, Roe assisted them with the emergency defibrillator, which shocked the man back to life, added Little.

The man who collapsed is currently in stable condition, according to Roe’s office. “We checked in this morning, and last we heard this morning, the man was going to be OK,” said Little.

Roe’s quick actions very likely saved the man’s life, said Mulvaney, who was present at the scene the whole time. “This guy is alive because of Phil Roe and a couple other very important people at the airport,” Mulvaney told the DC.

For his part, Roe was humble and commended local emergency officials. “I really want to praise the police officers there and the EMTs,” he told the DC. “They did a great job. I’m just glad I’m around and able to help.”

Roe said that this morning’s incident was his first time using a portable defibrillator.

During a layover at McCarren International Airport on May 15, while Santa Ana fireman John Gammon and his family were returning from his son Jordan’s graduation from Northwestern College. As they waited for a flight, Gammon’s wife noticed a young woman lying on the ground several feet from them, between rows of chairs.

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Quickly determining that the woman was in cardiac arrest, John Gammon alerted Jordan, an aspiring firefighter who finished an emergency medical technician course only days earlier.

John & Jordan Gammon the Saviours

“I was impressed watching him, because he engaged and just went right to it,” John Gammon said. “Sometimes, we even get guys who are trained firemen who hesitate for a second, but he jumped right in.”

As John raced through the airport searching for an automatic external defibrillator, Jordan put his newly learned lifesaving techniques to work, taking over CPR compressions on the woman.

“Three days before that, I had been tested on it,” Jordan Gammon said. “It was a little stressful, but my training took over.”

“He took the real test,” added Jim Larson, a Santa Ana firefighter and paramedic who had given Jordan advice during his EMT course.

A doctor also awaiting a flight arrived to help, with an airport employee locating a defibrillator. The device analyzed the woman’s heart rhythm and delivered a single shock, at which point the rescuers found a pulse.

Clark County firefighters arrived soon after, taking the woman to a hospital.

She had to undergo open-heart surgery but appears to be doing well, John Gammon said. Authorities believe the 33-year-old woman had a pre-existing condition that was exacerbated when she exerted herself while running to catch a flight.

Fire officials say the key to saving the woman’s life was the speed of the emergency response, with CPR started within 30 seconds, the first shock within five minutes, and paramedics arriving within 10 minutes.

“For every minute that someone is in cardiac arrest, they lose approximately seven to 10 percent chance of surviving, depending on their age and pre-existing conditions,” Larson said.

For Jordan, the rescue was a reminder of why he wanted to become a firefighter, following in the footsteps of his father and both of his grandfathers. While studying at Northwestern, Jordan also worked for a volunteer fire department, responding on a variety of medical aids and fire calls.

“I enjoy helping people, and it’s always interested me,” Jordan Gammon said. “Being able to help this lady was a blessing.”

Peter is a Customer Care Agent at East Midlands Airport and was at work on that particular day, although not on duty as an operational First Responder, nonetheless his skills were urgently required when a male passenger collapsed in the airport terminal.

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CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) had been commenced by a fellow passenger and a defibrillator had been brought to the scene. By this time the casualty was in cardiac arrest, which means that his heart had stopped beating, so Peter deployed the defibrillator whilst assisting with CPR.

Peter Van Der Wal the Saviour

Two shocks were given, which along with sustained CPR were successful in the casualty’s heart regaining a regular rhythm and subsequently regaining consciousness.

An ambulance crew and a doctor were very soon on the scene and all agreed that had it not been for Peter’s skill and management of the incident, together with his prompt and decisive action the casualty is unlikely to have survived.

Phoenix Sky Harbor had its 28th AED save on Wednesday, Feb. 16.

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Shortly after 2 p.m., a 79 year-old man from North Carolina, who was traveling with his wife, collapsed near gate C3 in Terminal 4 as they waited for a connecting flight.

Phoenix Airport police officers responded to the call.

The man had no pulse and was not breathing.

An airline employee retrieved the AED and then Officer Joe Liska, who is trained in the use of AEDs, administered one shock to the man. Officer Tom Beck arrived on the scene and began giving chest compressions.

When firefighters arrived, the man was breathing and had a heartbeat. He was taken to the hospital and is currently recovering.