First Aid Corps

Officer Stephen DeBrular of the Aquia Harbor Police Department saved a life.

Stephen DeBrular the Saviour

When a resident of the gated community in North Stafford went into cardiac arrest, DeBrular’s CPR and defibrillator training kicked in.

DeBrular had just left the scene of a call for shots fired when he received the cardiac arrest call.

“When I got the scene it was chaotic; [I had] the husband waving me down and when I got there, it was an older female – no breathing, no pulse, no response of any kind,” DeBrular said.

He immediately began performing CPR and using an AED, an automated external defibrillator, which uses electric therapy for those in cardiac arrest. It was a tense six minutes before the EMS arrived. “I was finally able to get a pulse and her breathing back,” DeBrular commented.

DeBrular, who has worked at the department for the past six years, has had a wealth of law enforcement experience including military police and state police work, so when he got a call for cardiac arrest this past Winter, he knew he had to act fast.

“What I was told by the doctors was that someone in cardiac arrest for the amount of time she was in and having the AED and CPR being done at that point was probably the key point in saving her life. They said she had a less than 20% chance at that point, which actually ended up being a less than two percent chance. If I hadn’t been there when I was, there was no way she could have survived,” said DeBrular.

Chief Patricia S. Harman of the Aquia Harbor Police Department has helped to create and maintain a team that certifies officers and local citizens in first aid, CPR and use of the AED machine. In a life-saving coincidence, “The cert team had just given us a refresher course – we had just recertified for CPR a couple of weeks to a month prior to this incident,” said Harman.

The woman did not return requests for comment to maintain her privacy, but has made a full recovery since the incident and has no after effects.

To celebrate DeBrular’s life saving actions, the department has nominated him for the AED Life Saver Award and the Stafford Sheriff’s Office Life Saver Award.

“It’s a great feeling. I don’t feel like I’m a hero or anything like that. I was glad I was able to do my job and I’m glad I had the training. I was just at the right place, at the right time, with the right training. It makes me feel really good that she can continue on with her life, so it’s a great feeling,” DeBrular said.

Officials say a 44-year-old Southeast man went into cardiac arrest—which prompted those around him to deliver an electric shock via an automated external defibrillator (AED)—while attending a recent event on the Brewster Central School District campus.

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Members of the Brewster Fire Department (BFD) and the New York State Police responded to the incident around 4:25 p.m. Wednesday. The man, who survived, was reportedly standing in the bleachers, near the turf field, when he fell to the floor in an unconscious state and began convulsing.

Half a dozen parents—many of whom just happen to work or volunteer in the emergency response field—attending the same event rushed to the man’s side. A teacher removed the young children from the area, as the man was shaking and vomiting. His breathing was irregular, witnesses told Patch.

By the time police and BFD members arrived on the scene, the group had used the AED to deliver electric shocks in an attempt to steady the man’s heart rhythm. One parent sprinted hundreds of yards to one of the schools—and back—to retrieve the device. Another ran to his vehicle and grabbed a face mask used to administer CPR. Others stayed with the man and delivered chest compressions.

“Everybody started to do something,” Southeast resident Paul Castle, a member of the FDNY, said. “It was a big group effort, like a well-oiled machine.”

Officials transported the man, who was still unconscious, to Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel. Later that night, he was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. He had reportedly regained consciousness by that time.

“He was lucky. It could’ve been much worse,” Castle said.

Mike Frey, a Putnam Lake resident and FDNY member who was also on the scene, said the use of the AED was “huge.” The man was not without oxygen for very long either, he added.

“It’s always nice when you can help someone,” Frey said. “I’m just happy he’s OK.”

Neither Castle nor Frey knew the man very well. Some of the other parents who helped were strangers, too.

A Sacramento-area bicyclist is alive today thanks to a Marin County sheriff’s deputy and a private citizen who treated him after he collapsed on a San Geronimo Valley roadway Sunday afternoon, police said.

At about 3 p.m. passersby called 911 when they saw a woman performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a bicyclist in the roadway of Nicasio Valley Road, just north of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.

Marin County sheriff’s Deputy Chris Boden was in the area and sped to the scene, arriving within two minutes to find the man unconscious and not breathing, said Marin sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman.

Boden determined the bicyclist had not been struck by a car; he brought out a defibrillator, an electrical diagnostic and treatment device, and attached the electrodes to the chest of the cyclist, a man in his 50s whose name has not been released.

The defibrillator diagnosed the cyclist with arrhythmia and directed Boden to administer an electric shock, which allowed the cyclist’s heart to reestablish an effective rhythm, Pittman said.

Minutes later, Marin County Fire Department medics arrived and continued treatment, transporting the cyclist to Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae. The cyclist’s family told police the cyclist was in intensive care Monday undergoing further treatment.

The sheriff’s office is trying to find the citizen who administered CPR to thank her for her lifesaving efforts. Firefighters and medical personnel said the citizen and the deputy sheriff saved the bicyclist’s life.

“Talking to the firefighters and the doctors at Marin General, they credited the use of the (defibrillator) with saving the cyclist’s life because he (Boden) was on-scene so quickly,” Pittman said.

“We are really proud of him. He deserves to be recognized for this outstanding performance and the fact that this individual’s life was saved,” Pittman said.

The incident began around 5:45 p.m. Sunday during a shift change, Paul said.

A homeowner in the area of Merrill and Sheldon roads called 911 after the patient, a visitor at the home, went into cardiac arrest.

Officer Megan Paul the Saviour

Officer Clint Pace the Saviour

Officer Daniel Bromley the Saviour

Paul, Pace and Bromley were at the scene within three minutes. They grabbed their medic bags, which include an automated external defibrillator, and ran into the home, where they found the woman lying on the floor with no signs of breathing and no pulse.

Paul knelt and began chest compressions while Pace worked on the patient’s airway. Bromley, a rookie, prepared the AED.

The AED analyzed the woman’s condition and Bromley pushed the button, administering a shock as the machine instructed.

“It said to keep doing CPR, so we continued,” Paul said. “After a little while, she started gasping and was breathing on her own. We got a pulse back.”

Livingston County EMS and Hamburg Township firefighters soon arrived, and paramedics took over, administering a second shock to the woman, Paul said.

The woman was transported to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, where she remains in the intensive care unit, officials said.

Paul credited the officers’ training, which they receive from the Hamburg Township Fire Department, for the success in helping the patient.

“They train us on CPR and keep us updated,” she said.

Surveillance footage shows a student suddenly collapse on the floor of his high school, as an officer jumps into action and runs for his automated external defibrillator, saving the boy’s life.

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Xavier Hunter, 16, collapsed Nov. 6 from a condition he was unaware of at the time that caused an irregularly fast heartbeat. An announcement made over Kent Meridian High School’s PA system alerted Officer Scott Rankin, the school’s resource officer, who ran to his vehicle in the school’s parking lot, returning with a defibrillator.

Rankin used the defibrillator and performed CPR until EMTs arrived at the scene, and Hunter was rushed to the hospital.

Scott Rankin the Saviour

“I remember when I woke up in the hospital bed, but I don’t remember anything from before that,” said Hunter.

“He’s a hero. If it wasn’t because if him, I’d be dead, probably.”

“Most of the time, it doesn’t have a story book ending,” said Rankin. “It’s certainly a highlight of my career.”