First Aid Corps

Brian Morgan is certain that without a defibrillator he would not be here today.

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Yesterday it was reported how Mr Morgan suffered a heart attack on the side of the Waiohiki Rd during his usual 100km weekend cycle.

He was lucky motorists saw him collapse and performed CPR. He was even more fortunate that the nearby Napier Golf Club stored an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) and the club’s men’s captain Russell Burns knew it was there.

Brian Morgan the Survivor

Defibrillators, in Mr Burns’ words, were “idiot-proof” and designed to be used by lay persons in case of emergency. Mr Burns had never used the machine before but was familiar with one through his work as an electrician.

Mr Burns said Mr Morgan was “in pretty bad shape” when he arrived. But two zaps with the life-saving device was enough to get Mr Morgan’s heart pumping again, effectively saving his life.

The incident highlighted the value of storing defibrillators in isolated areas and populated public spaces like supermarkets, office blocks, sports stadiums and airports.

The next step was raising awareness so that people knew where to find a defibrillator in an emergency.

Without defibrillation, the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest decreased chances by 10 per cent. Minutes, quite literally, meant life.

Dr. Craig Levine, an oral surgeon from Merrick, was at a bar mitzvah at the Seawane Country Club in Hewlett last Saturday when he saw his friend Lew Goldman, the host of the event, passed out on the dance floor.

View First Aid Corps World Map of AED Locations in a larger map

With the help of an automated external defibrillator, Levine revived Goldman.

Craig Levine (left) the Saviour

“I immediately knew that he was in cardiac arrest, and I yelled out for someone to get an AED,” said Levine, who has campaigned to make defibrillators more readily available. “I unfortunately have been through experiences like this.”

In 2005, Levine’s son Robbie, 9, died on a Little League ballfield in Merrick. A policeman responding to the scene brought an AED, but it was too late.

In Levine’s Bay Shore office in April 2007, he saw a patient waiting for a dental consultation collapse from a heart attack.

Levine brought out an AED and saved her life.

“All these things that happen make me think of my son,” Levine said. “I couldn’t save my son, but I saved the lives of two people and spared their families.”

Goldman collapsed during his twin sons’ bar mitzvah.

“I don’t know what to make of it, why this keeps happening,” Levine said Friday, shaking his head ruefully.

“The real story is the AED saved my life,” Goldman said Friday from his Merrick home, where he was recovering. “Craig Levine is a hero.”

“The fact that Craig was there and they had an AED at the Seawane Country Club, and that it happened that night, I’m one lucky man,” Goldman said.