First Aid Corps

A man who suffered a heart attack in Ottawa’s Britannia Park was lucky that 85 members of the Canadian Ski Patrol were upgrading their CPR training in the park

“Somebody came in who had spoken to some of the patrollers earlier in the day and was interested in what we were doing — they came back in and said ‘Someone is dying outside in the park.’ And of course there was almost 100 of us here that could’ve gone out and checked out the situation,” Chisamore said.

The man, between 40 and 50 years of age, had been playing volleyball. He collapsed following the game and was not breathing and had no pulse.

The lifesaving recertification course suddenly became a real life emergency.

“So it was fortunate we were here,” said Chisamore.

Patrollers took one of their many defibrillators to the man in cardiac arrest and while waiting for paramedics to arrive, the ski patrollers shocked him with the defibrillator and did CPR.

By the time the ambulance arrived “the patient was gaining colour and that’s the best outcome,” Chisamore said.

Joe Camucci, who oversees paramedic services for the City of Ottawa, said timing is of the essence in these types of emergencies.

That’s why the municipality offer free CPR training to anyone who wants it and installs defibrillators in all public buildings, he said.

“If you want to have a cardiac arrest, do it on public property because your chance of being saved is 70 per cent,” he said.

Chisamore said the heart attack victim had good vital signs by Sunday night and was scheduled to be transferred to the Ottawa Hospital Heart Institute for followup care.

Longtime golf partners Ray Gee and Bill Gorman have never known their leisurely Friday night golf league to hold quite so much drama. But, on August 13th, the 8th hole of Conklin Players Club in Conklin, NY, became the scene of a lifesaving rescue when Gee collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest.

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According to Conklin Players Club Owner Theresa Rickard, when Gee collapsed, Gorman immediately started administering CPR, while another golfer, Matt Smith, ran to the clubhouse to retrieve the automated external defibrillator (AED) at the clubhouse.

Gorman, a 29-year volunteer fireman for the Conklin Fire Department, then defibrillated Gee, while Brian Bailey, another member of their foursome, administered chest compressions.

Rickard said, “We’ve had the AED for a couple of years, but have never had to use it. We had it in the lobby – just in case – and I’m so thankful that we did.”

Gee, a structural steel draftsman who resides in Binghamton, NY, and Gorman, an electrician who lives in Conklin, have been friends for 30 years. Gee said, “I’m very lucky that Bill was my partner. Not only is he a great golf partner, but he’s a great human being. He just took complete control of everything.”

Gorman said, “I was a First Responder years ago, and I did have CPR and defibrillator training. But that AED was so easy to use, it didn’t matter. Between the CPR, the defibrillator and the quick response of the ambulance, it was the perfect storm – in a good way.”

A Pearl City J.V. football player collapsed during practice today, but thanks to a fast acting trainer he was able to be revived.

The team’s coach says a 9th-grade offensive tackle, was doing hitting drills head-to-head with another player when he suddenly collapsed.

A trainer at the practice ran to grab an automated external defibrillator or AED.

“Once we realized he stopped breathing, the trainer was right there right by the hill so his quick response actually helped save him,” said J.V. headcoach Jerry Arrayan.

“We hooked him up and he started coming around but i still had to do some CPR and eventually the pulse came back,” said athelectic heath care trainer Colin Lee.

The player was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Chris Campbell, 17, crumpled to the ground shortly after a group of Bedford athletes started stretching at the school just after 7 p.m. Tuesday.

“It was a voluntary pre-conditioning workout for all athletes,” said Mark German, who has been recommended to replace the retired Bill Regnier as Bedford’s athletic director. “They were just stretching when he collapsed. I understand that he wasn’t feeling well going into the workout.”

“I looked back and he just had collapsed. He was laying on the ground and he started to have a seizure,” his cousin Daniel Campbell, Jr. said.

Football coaches Lou Nickle and John Groll began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately.

“Lou and John were just fantastic,” Bedford head coach Jeff Wood said. “Without those two jumping right on and doing CPR, he would be in far worse shape.

“They did everything right. They are great men. The jumped right in without even thinking.”

Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Lestock was patrolling just a half-mile away from the high school when the call came in. He was in the scene in minutes.

Deputy Lestock retrieved an automated external defibrillator from his cruiser and used it on Campbell.

“He was down and not breathing,” Lestock said. “Luckily, we were right around the corner. That’s probably what saved him.

“Two coaches were already doing CPR. I got out my AED just like we are trained and hooked it up like I have numerous times before and shocked him.”

The Bedford Fire Department and Monroe Community Ambulance arrived moments later. the time Campbell was loaded into an ambulance, he was breathing on his own.

Lestock, who has been a Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy for 15 years, was impressed with the way that the coaches, firemen and paramedics handled the situation.

“It went as smooth as smooth can be for a scenario like that,” he said. “The way that everyone reacted is why he is still alive.”

Wood, who said about 100 athletes were doing the conditioning workout when Campbell collapsed, was equally impressed.

“There wasn’t any panic,” he said. “Coach (Jeff) Potter and my dad (LeRoy Wood) took care of the other kids while Lou, John and I helped Chris.”

Toledo Hospital reported Tuesday night that Campbell was in stable condition breathing on his own but in the intensive care in an induced coma.

Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies have carried AEDs in their cars for the past five or six years. Lestock was glad he had one Tuesday night.

“They’re expensive, but they are worth it if they save one person’s life,” he said. “I’ll tell you what, you get on that high with what you just accomplished in a situation like that. Then you have to step back and collect yourself and get that next call.”

Dr. Ross Bailey of Mantorville, a veterinarian with the Carriage House Animal Hospital in Kasson, had been on one of his daily jogs when the rhythm of his heart was interrupted.

He went into cardiac arrest, and Kim Thomas of Mantorville saw him collapse on the road.

As a surgical technologist at Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester, Thomas is required to be certified in CPR. She pulled over, called 911 and performed CPR until Dodge County sheriff’s deputy Scott Prins arrived.

“It felt like forever, those eight minutes between the call to 911 and hearing the sirens,” Thomas recalled Tuesday after receiving an award for her life-saving efforts.

“You don’t stop and make choices. You just do what you’ve been trained to do,” Thomas said. “I just clicked into CPR mode.”

Thomas’ efforts made it possible for Prins to treat Bailey at the scene with the automated external defibrillator in his squad car. It was the first time Prins had used the machine in the field.

After receiving the defibrillator shocks, Bailey regained a pulse and was taken to Saint Marys Hospital by Dodge Center ambulance.

“The whole series of events that weekend brought us all to the same place at the same time,” Thomas said. “I know we were all there for a good reason.”

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.

Ben Parsons, 30, a full-time firefighter and paramedic for the Whitefish Fire Department, traveled to Blodgett, Ore., for the annual Test of Endurance race on Father’s Day.

He finished strong at the race (11th out of 240 racers on the 50-mile course with 8,200 feet of climbing) and was headed back to his truck to clean up when a friend noticed flames “licking up uncomfortably close” to the awning of a nearby home.

They quickly discovered a flaming barbecue grill sitting on a wood porch attached to the house.

“Unbelievably, there was no one home and no hoses in the yard,” Parsons recalled in a first-person account he wrote about the incident, so he told his friend to run up the street where a firefighter with the Blodgett Volunteer Fire Department was operating a tender for racers to clean up their bikes.

Parsons said he grudgingly called 911, “knowing that we’d most likely get this taken care of before another engine showed up.

Parsons, who still was unwinding from the grueling race, thought everything was under control when his friend called him over again, this time to the fire truck.

Parsons realized the firefighter had collapsed and was in cardiac arrest.

When he found the man had no pulse, he put his paramedic skills into play and asked his friend to make a second 911 call, this time with news that a firefighter had coded.

Parsons “cranked away” on CPR to resuscitate the man while the dispatcher on the 911 line kept asking questions.

Within a couple of minutes an elderly woman arrived on scene with an automated external defibrillator and an airway kit. It was the firefighter’s wife, Parsons soon realized.

He successfully resuscitated the man, had him take some aspirin and made sure the firefighter had stable vitals before handing him off as the medics showed up.

The Blodgett firefighter underwent surgery that night. He called Parsons three days ago to thank him for his help, and informed him he’d had bypass surgery and now has a pacemaker and defibrillator.

On a warm April day, Miami City Treasurer Pete Chircut joined thousands of Miamians in the Mercedes-Benz Corporate Run through downtown.

Chircut, 61, briskly walked most of it, but near the end he decided to run.

It would be the last thing he remembered before regaining consciousness.

Done with work for the day, Miami police Sgt. Javier Ortiz was at the Häagen-Dazs in Bayside Marketplace, where he snacked on a waffle cone and chatted with a few other city officers, he said.

Another officer’s radio crackled. A lieutenant called out, ” ‘There’s a man in cardiac arrest. Where’s fire rescue?’ ” Ortiz said.

He stood two blocks north, at Northeast Fifth Street, with his police car — and its city-issued automated external defibrillator — parked a block away.

Ortiz ran to his cruiser and drove. He found Chircut sprawled in the northbound lanes, about 200 feet from the finish line. His skin had begun to turn blue, and a group of people surrounded him, performing CPR.

The group included Hollywood Fire Rescue Chief Virgil Fernandez, himself a former member of Miami Fire-Rescue. His wife was running in the event.

Fernandez checked for a pulse — there was none — while others worked on the CPR.

“It seemed like 30 seconds later, this guy in civilian clothes shows up, comes in and brings an AED,” Fernandez said.

Ortiz grabbed his defibrillator bag and stepped in to help.

One person did compressions while Ortiz did rescue breathing, he said.

No pulse.

Fernandez ripped off Chircut’s shirt. Ortiz wiped off the sweat and placed the defibrillator pads on Chircut.

No pulse.

They did one more round of CPR, Ortiz said. Then the machine activated and shocked Chircut once, followed by more CPR.

Finally, a pulse.

About two minutes later, an ambulance arrived and took Ortiz to Mercy Hospital. Ortiz gave the truck a police escort to get it there faster.

The entire time, he only knew the man he helped save as an anonymous runner, Ortiz said. It wasn’t until later, at Mercy Hospital, Ortiz discovered he saved a fellow city employee.

“I was happy that I was able to help out not only a fellow human being, but a city employee,” Ortiz said. “I was just happy that I had the equipment to get the job done and be able to bring him back to life.”

Chircut went on to have double-bypass surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center on May 3, said his son, Gavin Chircut.

He also had a visit from Fernandez.

“He brought me a T-shirt that says City of Hollywood Fire-Rescue,” Pete Chircut said. ‘ He said, `I brought you back one because I tore the other one up.’ ”

This month, Chircut returned to his job, working half days.

“I don’t know what to say, except thank you,” Gavin Chircut said, “and even that doesn’t seem like enough.”

Ortiz is back at work and hoping the event helps the push to get more defibrillators.

Ortiz’s device is one of about 65 bought several years ago with grant money and issued to interested city police officers.

The defibrillators are part of the Miami Fire-Rescue Department’s Public Access Defibrillation program, which started in early 2005 and manages hundreds of the devices across the city in places like public buildings and parks, program coordinator Zachary Nicholas said.

An organization, like the Police Department, buys the machines. For a fee, the Fire-Rescue program provides training on how to use them and monitors the machines for needed changes or maintenance.

Nicholas compared them with fire extinguishers, another device people can use to save lives.

“We’re all out there as human beings, and we all have to be vigilant,” he said. “This is another tool in the arsenal.’

Ortiz hopes his story will inspire the city to find a way to equip all police officers with defibrillators.

“Police are armed with guns and authorized to take lives,” he said. “But, on the other side, we’re also here to save lives.”

Lt. Jamie Hicks told the Chesterton Tribune today that at 1:24 p.m. the CFD was dispatched to the bowling alley Westchester Lanes at 124 N. Eighth St.—just around the corner from the fire house—in response to a report of a full cardiac arrest.

On firefighters’ arrival, a woman whom Hicks identified as the owner’s wife and a nurse was already administering CPR to the victim, a retirement-aged gentleman.

“We took over CPR and then applied the AED,” Hicks said. “We shocked him two times. Then we did more CPR.”

“By the time EMS got to the scene and we loaded the man into the ambulance, he was talking and breathing,” Hicks said.

Hicks also gave full credit to the nurse on the scene. “Early CPR, early defibrillation, that’s the key to saving people,” he said.