First Aid Corps

Randy Stevens has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.

On Nov. 8 Stevens, 51, was dead for at least 20 minutes, kept alive by CPR administered by his girlfriend, Lisa Wright, by Makakilo firefighters and finally by paramedic Shirley Ann Cazinha.

Randy Stevens the Survivor

The firefighters used a defibrillator three times to send dosages of electrical energy to Stevens’ heart to try to restart it while he lay on the floor of his second-floor Waiko Place bedroom.

When city Emergency Medical Services paramedic Cazinha and emergency medical technician Kaipo Hayashida arrived at the two-story Makakilo home after 11 p.m., Stevens’ skin was purple. He had no pulse and was not breathing.

Doctors later said he had suffered “a sudden death cardiac arrest.”

On Thanksgiving, Stevens met with Cazinha and Hayashida for the first time since his heart attack.

“I am very thankful,” Stevens told reporters. “I am very blessed.”

Cazinha, who has been a paramedic for nearly four years, said her heart dropped to her stomach when an EMS dispatcher told her and Hayashida by radio to respond to a “51-year-old male in cardiac arrest.”

“There were cars in the driveway,” Cazinha recalled. “We couldn’t get our gurney in, so we just went in.”

Cazinha said firefighters had already tried unsuccessfully three times to restart Steven’s heart with the defibrillator.

Even after shocking Steven’s heart two more times, Cazinha said, “there was no response.”

“There was nothing to indicate that his heart was operating.”

Cazinha said she continued to perform CPR on Stevens, shocking his heart for a sixth time while the ambulance was taking him and Wright to Pali Momi Medical Center.

“I kept pounding on his chest,” Cazinha said.

The sixth defibrillator shock resuscitated him.

“There was a nice rhythm.” Cazinha said. “There was good beating, good pulse. His color started coming back. He started to look pink again.”

At that point Stevens remembers waking up in the ambulance, hearing the siren and Wright telling him to wake up.

“I thought I was dreaming,” he said.

Cazinha said Stevens started talking at that point, saying, “I love you, baby.”

Cazinha said she called out to Wright, who was sitting in the front of the ambulance.

“He’s talking. She was crying. I was crying,” Cazinha said.

Wright, who was an EMT with Hawaii and Maui counties, added, “You never think this will happen to your own loved ones. When it happens to your loved one, it’s a different ballgame. I never thought it was going to happen to me.”

Also joining the group Thursday was Deputy Sheriff Bryan Marciel, a neighbor, who helped Wright administer CPR on Stevens.

Wright also credited another neighbor, Dr. Jonathan Paladino, a cardiologist, for his assistance Nov. 8.

Wright and Stevens said his heart attack shows how important it is to have “someone in every household learn CPR.”

“I am the living example,” said Stevens, who works as a property and land manager for Edmund C. Olson Trust.

Two of his seven teenage children are now CPR-qualified.

Stevens, who had just completed a physical examination and had no history of high blood pressure or cholesterol problems before his heart attack, now has an automatic internal cardiac defibrillator implanted in his chest. Similar to a pacemaker, the device constantly monitors his heart rhythm and automatically administers shocks for various life-threatening arrhythmias.

Hayashida, who hopes to qualify as a city paramedic, had been working as an EMT for only two months when he and Cazinha responded to the emergency.

“His case was pretty unique,” said Hayashida. “This was first case he saw when a person came back from a cardiac arrest.”

A 20-year-old woman in cardiac arrest was saved Wednesday evening with the help of some quick-acting bystanders who knew how to administer CPR.

It was just before 7:30 when the woman went into cardiac arrest at the Algonquin College sports dome.

“It appears she was running around the soccer field and doing a little bit of warm-up” at the dome-covered soccer field, said Steven Leu of the Ottawa Paramedic Service. “Following a little bit of warm-up, they were doing some stretching and then she collapsed, had a seizure and then went into cardiac arrest.”

He said the fast work of the people near her made a difference.

“Oh, it did,” said Leu. “She had immediate CPR when she went down.”

Firefighters then arrived and used a defibrillator. A second defibrillation was given by paramedics when they arrived.

From that point, paramedics were able to use Advanced Cardiac Life Support medications and procedures, according to Leu.

When they got her to hospital, she was breathing on her own.

“It was pretty fast by both paramedics and fire,” Leu added.

He said the woman was at the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic Campus.

“Right now it’s looking very optimistic,” he said.

New Chicago police officer Michael Haney is credited with saving the life of a 22-year-old Hammond man, Police Chief Tim Lucas said.

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“The town is extremely proud of him,” Lucas said.

The Hammond man, recuperating at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, was working out in a free weights area at Charter Fitness in Hobart when he collapsed on the floor, manager George Almedina Jr. said.

Michael Haney the Saviour

“He was not responsive. He was pretty much gone,” Almedina said.

Almedina declined to give the name of the man.

Haney, who also serves as a full-time Hobart firefighter/paramedic, responded to a cardiac arrest call last week at Charter Fitness on U.S. 6.

Haney administered CPR and, using a defibrillator in the health club, brought the man back to life, Lucas said.

Lucas said he plans to recommend Haney for a lifesaving award at both the local and county level.

New Chicago Councilman Philip Mores said he’s proud of the officer.

“We are proud of all our officers, but when one performs a selfless act like this, we are honored to say he is one of our own,” Mores said.

Haney, a 30-year-old Valparaiso resident, said he had been eating his dinner at the end of his shift when he heard a call over his police scanner.

He arrived at the health club, just a short distance away, to find a young man down and fully gone.

“He was gone; no breathing and no pulse,” Haney said.

Haney and Hobart firefighter/EMT Frank Pukoszek said they began working to revive the young man with compressions then were handed the automated extenal defibrillator by health club officials.

“That’s the first I’ve seen anyone come back like that,” Pukoszek said.

Haney said he believes it was the shock from the defibrillator that did the trick.

“The shock restarted his heart … The kid was back from the dead,” Haney said.

Haney, who has served as a police officer for one year and a firefighter/paramedic for four years, said he enjoys helping others.

“My family members are all either police, firefighters or teachers, all helping others. This is what I do and I love it … basically out there serving others,” Haney said.

Updates

Teiseer Haddad, 22, was all smiles as he walked into Charter Fitness on Thursday to thank employees who saved his life.

Teiseer Haddad the Survivor

“The doctors have told me they have no answer as to why my heart stopped. … I thank those who helped me here very much,” Haddad said.

Haddad, a Hammond resident who moved to the U.S. from Jordan, singled out for praise assistant manager Jorge Almedina, who administered CPR, and employee Sarah Gacsy, who brought back a defibrillator used to get his heart started again after it had stopped.

A nurse, who is a member of the health club, is also credited with administering the defibrillator. She has declined to have her named publicized, Charter officials said.

Haddad, a six-month member of the health club on U.S. 6, said he remembers very little of his last visit there on the night of Oct. 30.

He remembers working in the free weight area of the club, then trying to reach for the wall right before he collapsed.

“I couldn’t see and I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t move,” Haddad said.

Gacsy said she was working at the front desk when two members ran up and told her someone had passed out and had no pulse.

Almedina called 911 then went back to Haddad to begin administering CPR

“He started breathing, but still had no pulse and that’s when an off-duty nurse who was working out here came to help,” Almedina said.

Once the defibrillator was administered Haddad regained a pulse.

Hobart Emergency Medical Services officials arrived and transported Haddad to St. Mary Medical Center for assessment.

Haddad said doctors there couldn’t find a reason for his heart stopping, but inserted a pacemaker to keep his heart beating regularly.

For Almedina, who is 21, the incident was an eye-opener.

“I’m just glad I was certified and able to react. You don’t expect that to happen especially to someone close to my age,” Almedina said.

Tito Garcia Sr., regional manager for Charter Fitness, said it’s a requirement that there be at least one employee during all shifts who is CPR and AED certified.

“We’re just happy a life was saved and ecstatic our employees reacted courageously to save a person’s life,” Garcia said.

Haddad, who points to the spot in his chest where the new pacemaker has been placed, doesn’t plan to give up his workouts.

“I’m coming back to the health club tomorrow,” Haddad said.

It was a life-saving gift operators of a community centre hoped they would never need to use.

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But an Ilkley pensioner has praised an off-duty fireman for his quick-thinking by treating her husband with a defibrillator … just one day after it was presented to the centre.

The firefighter, who was a guest at the same wedding reception, was called into action after Derek Rowson collapsed while dancing with his wife, Julie, at the Clarke Foley Centre in Cunliffe Road.

He came to Mr Rowson’s aid by using the defibrillator – a £1,000 gift from Ilkley Round Table presented the day before – reviving the pensioner before he was taken by ambulance to Airedale Hospital in Steeton.

Mr Rowson was taken to hospital for overnight observations, where his condition was diagnosed as an irregular heartbeat. He is now recovering at home in Ilkley.

Mrs Rowson said it was a “great relief” the machine and a trained user were on hand to save her husband’s life.

She added: “The fireman was wonderful – he was the first one who took charge and decided the defibrillator was required.

“He got the machine and brought him round.”

Mr Rowson, who is in his 70s, is a volunteer at the Clarke Foley Centre, which runs events for the over-50s. He works as a cook at the centre’s popular lunch-eon club.

The wedding reception was taking place for one of the centre’s directors.

Centre manager, Judith Ellis, said: “In spite of it being so traumatic and absolutely awful for Julie and Derek, it was very reassuring for all of us – it proved the worth of having the machine here.

“We’re very grateful to the Round Table for providing it for us, and to Addingham Heartstart for providing training.”

Judith also praised the ambulance crew, who arrived quickly to transfer Mr Rowson to hospital.

Ilkley Round Table vice-chairman, Richard Brad-ley, said he was “delighted” to hear the club’s donation had already made a life-saving difference.

Lifesaving firefighters will be honoured for rescuing a lorry driver who went into cardiac arrest after his vehicle caught fire.

The brave pair put their own lives at risk from motorway traffic to reach the man whose lorry was alight on the M20.

When he dropped to the floor after suffering a cardiac arrest, the firefighters carried out CPR and used a defibrillator to resuscitate him, saving his life.

Mr Eden was still in the process of becoming a fully trained firefighter and Mr Pattinson had just completed a first-aid refresher course.

They will be presented with awards for their prompt selfless action by the assistant chief ambulance officer at the SADS event on Saturday held in London and attended by emergency personnel.

They have already received certificates of commendation from Kent Fire and Rescue Service chief executive Ann Millington and fire authority chairman Bryan Cope for saving lives and helping the community.