First Aid Corps

On Monday afternoon, Aviles, 13, was set to begin a weekly workout at World Gym. After a five-minute warm up, Aviles took a water break.

Edgar Aviles the Survivor

When his trainer, Oscar Carranza, called the young boy to begin the workout session, Aviles stood up and immediately fell to the ground onto his stomach.

“It happened so fast, he didn’t even get to close his water bottle. Edgar was not breathing, there was no pulse and he was starting to turn blue,” Carranza said.

At that point, Jordan Ramirez, a sales rep at the gym who received his CPR certification last Thursday, ran to the boy after Carranza called for his help.

“I didn’t feel a pulse, so I told Oscar we had to conduct CPR,” Ramirez said. “You could tell when Edgar was coming back to life, you could see him come in and out.”

Within three minutes, EMTs arrived on the scene and immediately used a defibrillator that brought the boy back to life.

He was then transported to Providence Memorial Hospital in El Paso, where doctors stabilized his condition.

The next day, Edgar was transferred to University Medical Center of El Paso, where he was diagnosed with arrhythmic heart failure and an enlarged heart.

Elizabeth Aviles was at the gym during her son’s near-death encounter. She said she last talked to Edgar when he came to ask for a water bottle and went back to his workout. She was at another part of the facility when her son collapsed and did not witness the quick response by the two World Gym employees.

“I really thought I was going to lose my son,” Aviles said. “If it wasn’t for Oscar and Jordan my son wouldn’t be alive.”

Kathy Margiasso, the fitness director at Mount Kisco Athletic Club, and another personal trainer were waiting for their 9 a.m. appointments last week when a member came running toward them.

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“Someone fell off the treadmill,” Margiasso said was the urgent message.

Margiasso’s initial instinct was to grab the first aid kit, thinking it might be a case of scrapes and bruises, but then fellow trainer Val Yasovic told her the person was unconscious.

Kathy Margiasso the Saviour

Turns out a 64-year-old man had suffered a heart attack while working out on the treadmill. Margiasso said she quickly “turned back around,” and got the Automatic External Defibrillator, or AED, and told manager Tom Brady to call 911.

“Immediately what I did was just open the AED and put the pads on his chest, and the AED analyzed immediately and said there was a shock advised,” Margiasso said. “I did one shock and then we started CPR.”

Brady said Margiasso and Yasovic were in sync.

“She and Val worked as a team to save that guy’s life,” said Brady, noting that one trainer was operating the defibrillator and then together they did three cycles of CPR with Margiasso doing compressions and Yasovic the breaths.

Margiasso said the victim’s legs then started to move “and there were signs of life” so she stopped. By this point, police, EMTs and an ambulance had arrived at the 151 Kisco Ave. club

The club would not release the name of the member who was stricken but said he was stabilized at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco and then brought to the cardiac unit at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla where he underwent double bypass surgery the following day.

Margiasso said Tuesday she was proud of herself and the staff for remaining calm and grateful that everyone in the gym is trained to do CPR and use the AED. In fact, Margiasso is the one who trains them.

“I’m thrilled that when it comes time to put (to use) the skills that we practice over and over again, that we were able to do it,” she said.

It was just a normal Tuesday on June 8 for Buzzetta. He was at the front desk of Gold’s Gym, watching customers come in, before he was pulled away to a man sitting lifeless on a leg-lifting machine.

Josh Buzzetta & Joe Perry the Saviours

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Ray sat there slumped and was unresponsive.

At 9:30 a.m., the shocking developments put Buzzetta quickly into saving mode, he said.

Quickly checking Ray’s pulse and not finding one, Buzzetta realized he needed to do CPR. With help from friends Joe Perry and Jason Broyer, Buzzetta grabbed the gym’s defibrillator and called 911.

“Everything was just very fast,” he said. “I was in shock like everyone else.”

After giving Ray two sets of CPR, the three rescuers hooked up the defibrillator.

“People stepped up and there was no hesitation,” Buzzetta said. “We just jumped right in.”

And after one shock, Roy gasped for air, Buzzetta said. After finding a faint pulse, paramedics arrived on scene.

Ray was rushed to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital where he was stabilized. From there, he was transferred to Stanford Hospital on Wednesday.

“They told us we saved his life,” Buzzetta said. “I was trained and I put it to use.”

“If it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t have lived through this,” Hoff said. “I can’t express how thankful I am.”

“People have come in almost everyday to thank us and tell us we are heroes,” Buzzetta said. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

Buzzetta doesn’t see himself as a hero, just someone doing what he is supposed to do.

“We are not heroes – we were just at the right place at the right time.” He said. “We are just blessed.”

Francis Howell Middle School’s seventh-grader Austin Redd, 13, collapsed to the floor at the start of class and went into cardiac arrest about 12:45 p.m., officials said.

St. Charles County Deputy Ron Neupert, 50, the school’s resource officer, raced to the gym and found Austin unconscious, not breathing and without a pulse. Neupert started CPR and radioed for an ambulance.

The school’s nurse, Lynne Finnerty, shocked Austin’s heart once with the school’s automatic external defibrillator.

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Shortly after, Austin regained consciousness.

“It seemed like forever, but within a few seconds, he began to breathe on his own and you could see he was coming around,” Neupert said.

Austin is expected to recover.

Marty Limpert, a spokesman for the St. Charles County Ambulance District, said the incident illustrates the need for AEDs in schools and staff trained in life-saving procedures.

“There’s no doubt that they saved his life,” Limpert said.

“It’s awesome,” Neupert said of Austin’s recovery. “These kids are my kids, and I care about every single one of them.”

Francis Howell Middle School Principal Amy Johnston said that Thursday was the first time the school has used its AED since it was installed about eight years ago.

And “hopefully the last,” she said.

Walter Peaston, a retired 69-year old medical doctor, collapsed while he worked out on a rowing machine for the community health project at Galleon Centre in Kilmarnock.

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But a quick-thinking cardiac nurse Gillian Mitchell, 31, and an off-duty fireman Kenny McGill, 35, carried out CPR on the stricken medic as gym staff raced to find a defibrillator.

He said: “He hadn’t been breathing for at least four minutes, maybe five, and there was no pulse. He was blue.

“I knew there was a heart defibrillator in the centre and I shouted to staff to get it.”

Moments later, fitness instructor Nathan Mobey arrived with the defibrillator and shocked him back to life.

Kenny said: “The guy just let out a scream and bizarrely that meant he was okay. He only believed he’d been passed out for a few seconds.”

Paramedics rushed Walter to Crosshouse Hospital after Thursday’s drama and last night he was described as being in a stable condition.

Kenny added: “It’s fortunate that both Gillian and I work for the emergency services. He’s a lucky, lucky man.”

Greg Long, 36, of Woodstock, a participant in the Shenandoah County Parks and Recreation Department’s 35-and-older men’s basketball league, went to substitute for a teammate after halftime, took three steps onto the court and instantly had a seizure, said his fiancee, Chastidy Romick.

Greg Long the Survivor

He tried to get up, took two deep breaths and quit breathing, turning blue, she said.

Players and county staff assigned to Central High School rushed to begin CPR.

“It felt like we were moving in slow motion,” said Terri Wymer, the gym supervisor in charge.

Rushing as fast as he could at the same time, Bill Simmons, a member of the team playing against Long’s squad, retrieved one of Central’s automated electronic defibrillators from a box mounted on the wall at the school’s entrance. A coach and teacher at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School, he, like other coaches, was trained to use the device in August.

The thinking, though, was that if there ever came a time to use the AED, it would not be on a healthy 36-year-old who had no known heart-related issues.

“Disbelief,” Simmons said.

With the help of others, he gave Long a shock before rescue personnel arrived and took control. They transported Long to Shenandoah Memorial Hospital and he was later transferred to Winchester Medical Center.

At SMH, Long was coherent but couldn’t remember anything, and complained only of his knees hurting, Romick said.

“It was definitely a joint effort on everybody’s part,” Wymer said.

“CPR wasn’t bringing him back,” Romick said. “Within 40 minutes [of getting shocked] he was talking to us. … If that defibrillator was not in there and someone was not there [trained] to use it, we would be planning his funeral right now.”.

Carpentersville resident Tom Malinger had walked about three-quarters of a mile on the elliptical machine on the morning of Feb. 21 at the Dundee Township Park District’s recreation center.

He started to feel dizzy, so he stopped. In a split second, Malinger’s heart stopped. He collapsed, hitting his head on the gym floor.

Those who witnessed his collapse said Malinger “keeled over” but was conscious and speaking before he blacked out.

A flight attendant, recreation center employee, part-time firefighter and a fellow gym user rushed to Malinger’s aid.

Debra Zeigler, a flight attendant, used the Automated External Defibrillator, which got Malinger’s heart going.

Keri Fowler, who was working out near Malinger, rushed to dial 911.

Others helped, too, including Craig Lauer, a part-time Carpentersville firefighter and Leslie Kowalski, a park district employee.

“Thank God for the people who were there to help that day who knew what they were doing,” Malinger said. “I am very grateful for that.”

When the ambulance arrived, the responding officers told Malinger’s wife, Barb, that the AED had saved her husband’s life. Without it, they told her, he would have died before the ambulance arrived.

He regained consciousness momentarily in the ambulance on the way to Sherman Hospital in Elgin.

“The response was so quick,” Barb told Carpentersville trustees last week. “Without the AED he wouldn’t be here today.”

Yuman Brittany Ebersole was working out Wednesday at Club Yuma Fitness Center when a fellow gym member’s heart stopped.

“He was playing racquetball, and he just collapsed,” said Ebersole.

Another gym member witnessed the man collapse and rushed for help and got Ebersole, who is a paramedic with Rural/Metro in Yuma.

Ebersole and others, including club owner and director Nancy Patterson, helped give the 71 year-old man care Wednesday — and the AED helped save the man’s life.

After receiving care, the man was walking and talking before paramedics took him to Yuma Regional Medical Center, where he is currently in stable condition.

On April 11, Lori Duchow, a pediatric nurse at Riverview Hospital in Wisconsin Rapids, was watching an adult basketball game during a tournament at Nekoosa High School with her two daughters when she saw a man collapse on the court.

Duchow rushed to his side, told people surrounding him she was a nurse and instructed them to call 911.

The man was breathing and had a pulse, but when Duchow checked a few minutes later, she could no longer feel the beat of his pulse.

She instructed someone to find an automatic external defibrillator, a device trained people can use to shock the heart back into action.

While she waited for the machine, Duchow started cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the unconscious man.

When someone brought the automated external defibrillator, Duchow used it and then continued CPR.

“The machine tells you what to do,” she said.

Duchow said while she worked on the man, she continued thinking she didn’t want him to die in front of 150 people, including children, in the gymnasium.

While she assisted the man, referees from the game worked to get the children into an adjoining room.

The man’s heart started beating again. When he awoke, he didn’t know what happened, Lori said. He wanted to get back up and start playing. Lori insisted he go to the hospital with the ambulance.

The next time Duchow saw the man in church, he and his wife thanked her for saving his life. The man gave Duchow a big hug.

“I cried,” she said.

Michael Crane, 26, was at Novato High School gym in November and getting ready to play a playoff adult league basketball game.

Michael Crane the Saviour

Forrest Manning’s team had just lost and he had just sat down in a chair.

About 20 seconds into Crane’s game, Manning fell out of the chair and his teammates called out for help.

Crane is a graduate student at Arizona State University and is finishing his thesis for a degree in fire department administration.

He finished an 18-month internship with the Napa Fire Department in early 2008 and is trained as an emergency medical technician.

Crane gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions until Novato paramedics arrived.

Manning received shocks from a defibrillator and was taken to a hospital.

He is recovering from having two stents installed in previously blocked arteries.

With some help, Manning tracked down Crane, who recently moved to San Francisco, to thank him. “It’s strange because how can you really thank somebody completely who saved your life?” Manning said. “I’m sure he knows how much it meant.”

Crane said he got goosebumps when Manning called. “I was taken aback by it all,” he said. “I think everybody who was there that night has seen the impact of knowing CPR. Hopefully people will take the steps to learn it so they have the ability to save a life.”