First Aid Corps

66-year-old Harold Liberatore from Milton recently led a fundraising campaign to purchase three AEDs (automated external defibrillators) for the Lincoln Park Police Department. An AED is a portable device that can diagnose abnormal heart activity and then correct it with electrical therapy.

Harold Liberatore the Survivor

Liberator knew the medical equipment would provide critical aid to individuals in cardiac arrest. He never imagined, however, that it would save his own life.

A few months ago, Liberatore was out shopping by himself for a party when he stopped at a traffic light along Main Street in Lincoln Park. That’s the last thing he remembers before waking up in Chilton Hospital. There, a combination of dedicated medical professionals, technology, and perhaps a little serendipity enabled him to survive a heart attack and fully recover.

Liberatore was found alone in his car, slumped over the steering wheel, by a bystander who immediately called for help. Fortunately, an off-duty police officer was driving right behind him, and additional responders arrived within minutes, including three more officers from the Lincoln Park Police Department and a volunteer rescue team from Lincoln Park Emergency Medical Services. First on the scene was Patrolman Russell Ruggiero, who is also an experienced emergency medical technician, and he had an AED in the trunk of his vehicle.

In an amazing twist of fate, the very same machine may have been donated by Liberatore himself when he was commander of the local American Legion. The AED was used on Liberatore five times to “shock” his heart before he reached the hospital.

Thanks, in part, to support from the American Legion and other benefactors, every patrol car in the Lincoln Park Police Department fleet is now equipped with an AED, since officers are often the first responders in a medical emergency. In Liberatore’s case, Ruggiero arrived within 60 seconds and was quickly aided by Detective Joseph Zammit, Sgt. John Karback, and Patrolman John Cifelli.

“Harold’s car was locked, so I yelled for the other officers to break the passenger window, allowing us to put the car in park and pull Harold out of the vehicle,” Ruggiero recalled. “He had no pulse and wasn’t breathing, so we performed CPR right there on the street and retrieved the AED … which signaled the need for two ‘shocks’ before the ambulance arrived.”

Without hesitation, Ruggiero hopped in the rig to assist the first aid crew. Together, they continued CPR and electrical therapy along the way to Chilton Hospital in Pompton Plains.

“As we approached the hospital, Harold started breathing on his own,” Ruggiero said. Liberatore was successfully revived and soon under the care of Chilton’s Emergency Department, where his story continues.

Liberatore was promptly evaluated by the Emergency Department team and treated with another technological innovation: therapeutic hypothermia.

Following a cardiac catheterization and two days of therapeutic hypothermia, Liberatore awoke fully coherent – eager to jump out of bed and straight toward an American Legion convention. On his doctor’s advice, he opted for cardiac rehabilitation instead, enrolling in Chilton’s 12-week outpatient program.

“Harold’s prognosis is excellent,” Dr. Blitz asserted. “He sustained minimal heart muscle damage and shows no evidence of neurological deficiency. With some modest lifestyle changes and medication, he should do great.”

“I know it happens every day, but you never think a heart attack will happen to you,” said Liberatore. “It’s a miracle I’m alive.”

A father in his mid-50s who collapsed on his way to watch his daughter’s softball game at Lakeland High School on Wednesday was brought back to life by a trainer and a coach using a portable defibrillator.

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

The father, who had lost consciousness and wasn’t breathing when Lakeland athletic trainer Amanda Tiffany and John Jay High School lacrosse coach Patrick Chiappetta rushed to his aid, was recovering in stable condition Thursday at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, school officials said.

“There is a family that is not mourning the loss of a father today because people acted, and that is heavy stuff,” said Chiappetta’s boss, Christian McCarthy, the athletic director for the Katonah-Lewisboro school district. “Their decision to act saved a life, and there is no greater classroom lesson than that.”

It was one of those busy after-school weekdays in spring with multiple games in progress across a single campus, and scores of spectators, players and school officials on the scene.

The man was headed to the junior varsity softball game and was just outside the fence surrounding the school’s all-purpose athletic field when everything stopped. MaryLu Fiori, a Lakeland field monitor, saw the man collapse and yelled for help.

“I knew my AED was at the end of the bench so I grabbed it and I ran as fast as I could across the field,” said Chiappetta, 29, John Jay’s junior varsity girls lacrosse coach and a father of two. “He was in bad shape, on his back, so I hopped the fence and the Lakeland trainer already had his shirt pulled up.”

“I opened my AED and the trainer put the pads on him and pushed the button,” Chiappetta said .

The device can scan for irregular heartbeats and deliver a shock to restore a healthy rhythm. It was enough to bring the man, whom officials declined to identify, back to consciousness.

As Tiffany and Chiappetta were at the man’s side, Yorktown police Officer Larry Paniccia, the school’s resource officer, called 911 and joined in the lifesaving efforts. Mohegan Lake ambulance responded and took him from the scene.

“He is awake and speaking with his family,” Lakeland High School Principal Lorrie Yurish said Thursday. “The family is so grateful.”

A man who suffered sudden cardiac arrest recently while exercising at the Mississauga YMCA is expected to recover thanks to facility staff and the presence of a defibrillator.

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

After collapsing, 47-year-old Cambridge resident Richard Goodwin was tended to by staff at the Burnhamthorpe Rd. W. facility, who used a “Mikey,” a public access defibrillator, to treat him.

The life-saving device was supplied by The Mikey Network, a registered Canadian charity working to create public awareness and provide education about heart healthy lifestyles. The network has trained more than 11,000 people in CPR/AED and has placed more than 1,350 “Mikeys” in schools, community centres, churches and other locations across the country. To date, according to network officials, 15 lives have been saved by their devices.

“Richard regularly exercised at the Mississauga YMCA. Trained staff performed CPR and applied the MIKEY defibrillator. After one shock, they were able to get a heartbeat on Mr. Goodwin, who was starting his workout, when he collapsed. He was then transported to the Credit Valley Hospital for treatment and is expected to fully recover,” said Mikey Network Chairman Hugh Heron.

The man, believed to be in his 50s, was at the side of the Sheringham pitch, behind the Splash Leisure and Fitness Centre, on Saturday while his 11 year old played in an under-12s match for Horsford Youth Football Club.

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

The man, believed to be in his 50s, was at the side of the Sheringham pitch, behind the Splash Leisure and Fitness Centre, on Saturday while his 11 year old played in an under-12s match for Horsford Youth Football Club.

Just a few minutes after the 10.30am kick-off he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.

Eyewitnesses said two parents performed CPR and another spectator ran into the leisure centre and returned with a defibrillator and staff from the centre, who usaed it to bring him back to life.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) arrived at 10.40am just minutes before paramedics in a land ambulance and rapid response vehicle and Community First Responders.

He was airlifted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where he was conscious and in a “stable condition”, according to an EAAA spokesman.

She said: “Thanks to a quick-thinking member of the public who immediately started CPR and someone close by with a defibrillator, this patient was conscious when we arrived. This man could very well have these people to thank for saving his life and it just proves how important first aid knowledge is.”

Stuart Smith, 49, from Sheringham, who was preparing a cricket pitch at the time, said: “My understanding is his heart stopped. There was a real community spirit. The spectators must have done a sterling job and looked after him. It was a bit of a shock for the younger players.”

The Horsford team was playing East Coast Warriors under-12s, based on the pitch run by Sheringham and District Sports Association, but the game was abandoned after the emergency.

Dale Webster, 22, manager of the Horsford team, said it was key everyone in sport should know how to use a defibrillator.

“They are a lot of money but save people’s lives. It is something the Norfolk Football Association should look into introducing to sports teams,” he said.

Mr Webster, who looked after the children, including the man’s son, added: “His son was in bits but I spoke to the parents who were not at all panicked and were calm.”

Eddie Copeman, manager of East Coast Warriors, said: “It was a fantastic team effort, It was pure luck there were people at the match who knew what they were doing. They were in command.”

The leisure centre, run by DC leisure, has had a defibrillator since 2005 and staff are regularly trained how to use it.

Chairman of Sheringham and District Sports Association, Charles Sanders, said: “It must have been very distressing, especially his son.”

He added all clubs who played on the ground were first aid trained but he would be bringing up the issue of the importance of community defibrillators at the committee’s next meeting in a fortnight.

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We’d like to thank all those involved for their prompt actions.

“Using the skills they did at the earliest stage gave him the best possible chance of life by getting the heart working again, and it was of such great value to the crews who delivered intense, advanced life-saving skills at the scene and on to hospital.

“The more people learn life-saving skills, the better, because every second counts in these situations.”

The father remained in hospital last night.

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.