First Aid Corps

Gary Fratus, who celebrated his 52nd birthday last week, was loading trucks for his North Main Street heating and air conditioning business around 8 a.m. July 1 when he collapsed because of a cardiac arrhythmia.

His son, Scott, ran next door to the North Randolph fire station for help.

The shift was changing at the time, and the five firefighters inside rushed to the man’s aid, grabbing the emergency medical equipment from the department’s Engine 4.

Firefighter/paramedic Thomas Binnall, the department’s emergency medical coordinator, said when firefighters reached the elder Fratus, he “was not breathing and had no pulse.”

Gary Fratus said he was told “I was clinically dead.”

Binnall said firefighters used a defibrillator to administer a single shock, restoring Fratus’ pulse before the ambulance arrived to take him to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton.

“It’s a miracle that it happened,” Scott Fratus said. “Every single doctor said the same thing, ‘You don’t know how lucky you are.’”

James Fuller, 27, said he can’t remember anything of that morning but it was a typical Monday – he arrived at work at the South Colonnade offices, checked his emails and then went to a meeting.

James Fuller the Survivor

Moments later he collapsed in his chair.

“A couple of colleagues helped me,” he said. “One was trained in CPR a number of years ago and she sprang into action. Another knew first aid and had the emergency services on the phone giving advice.”

Within minutes, a motorcycle paramedic, fast response car paramedic, a cycle paramedic and an ambulance crew arrived.

They gave James two shocks with a defibrillator and his heartbeat returned.

He was taken to hospital and discharged a few weeks later after doctors had fitted him with a cardioverter defibrillator.

James, now 28, has since made a full recovery and moved to a new job in London Bridge, but he has made a point of keeping in touch with the colleagues he owes his life to.

He said: “I’ve seen both of them a couple of times since and it’s a fantastic thing that they were able to help me. I’ve heard there’s been an uptake of people taking on CPR training in that firm and there’s also been some defibrillators put in the building.”

Speaking about the reunion with the paramedics, James said: “Not being able to remember what happened that day, it was fantastic to meet up with all the ambulance staff that were involved in person – I can’t speak highly enough of them.

“They do an amazing job and they are all absolute heroes in my book.

“I left hospital less than a month later and returned to my life without any real lasting consequences. I can only attribute that to my colleagues being able to provide CPR and to the ambulance staff for everything they did.”

The workweek had barely gotten started at Shaw Moving & Storage in Crestview on July 12 when a 50-year old employee suffered a major heart attack.

Brian Mccallum the Saviour

“He fell over with a heart attack,” described company president Craig Shaw, describing Skinner’s incident. “It was early in the morning. We hadn’t even done anything yet. He had just gotten here.”

Fortunately for Bernard Skinner, Officer Brian McCallum was on patrol when the emergency call came in. Thanks to his training, fast response and the availability of the emergency device properly called an automated external defibrillator, or AED, the outcome was a happy one.

Shaw said Skinner had no history of heart troubles before the event. He credited the officer and the city’s purchase of the AEDs for saving his employee.

McCallum, a two-year veteran with the force, said audio instructions on the AED talk the responder through the procedure as the device analyzes the victim’s condition. “It determines whether to shock the person,” McCallum said.

As for Skinner, he was released from the hospital and, “He’s alive and up and running around, but he hasn’t been released for work,” Shaw said.

“He surprised me,” McCallum said. “He was out of the hospital within a week. I stopped by and talked to him.”

On Tuesday, Officer Jay Moriarty was at Highland Middle School when staff reported that a 61-year-old teacher had just collapsed on the soccer field.

View World Map on AED Locations in a larger map

Officer Moriarty and another staff member grabbed the school’s defibrillator and ran out to the field.

School staff applied CPR and Officer Moriarty and staff deployed the defibrillator until Bellevue Fire Department medics arrived and took over.

The teacher was recovering at Overlake Hospital on Wednesday.

“I think it was awesome (helping save a life),” said Officer Moriarty. “And it was a good team effort.”

In November, Shane Burger and Jim MaKenzie Jr. were working a regular shift at Lapp Industries. Burger was called to a meeting along with a number of other employees to learn that they were all going to be laid off as work was being sent to plants overseas.

View World Map on AED Locations in a larger map

>

Shane Burger & Jin Mckenzie the Saviours with Don Sherman the Survivor (center)

Burger said he was upset, but had no other choice to return to work for the day. Shortly after receiving the bad news, an emergency page came over the PA system in the plant. As part of the volunteer emergency response team, Burger was one of the first to arrive at the scene.

He found co-worker Don Sherman laying on the floor. He had no pulse and was blue from lack of oxygen.

Burger pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed 911.

While Burger was on the phone, MaKenzie arrived and quickly delegated responsibilities to those gathered around Sherman. Then, he began chest compressions as Burger — who was still on the phone — ran to get an emergency defibrillator.

The men hooked Sherman up to the defibrillator and administered two shocks. Then, they continued with CPR and maintained contact with the 911 dispatcher until the ambulance arrived.

Sherman was rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital. He underwent triple bypass surgery and has been recovering well ever since.

When Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone and Officer Al Patterson found custodian Neal Augustyn on the ground without a pulse, they feared the worst.

“As I was doing CPR, I yelled to Officer Patterson to go get the defibrillator and continued the CPR while Officer Patterson put together the pads to administer the shock,” said Giaccone.

“When I got there I couldn’t find a pulse either, then we hooked him up and the machine saved him,” said Patterson.

“After administering the shock, he started to blink his eyelids, he started to have shallow breathing,” said Giaccone.

The chief reported that Augustyn is doing well now and is at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for tests. He said the department could not be more thankful for the defibrillators that its had since 2001, thanks to a donation from the Hanover Rotary club and the Lane and Elizabeth C Dwinell charitable trust.

“You understand the importance of these, but actually seeing one work effectively and seeing the positive results we have in this case… It’s just amazing,” said Patterson.

The “Echo”-level dispatch came in at 8:21 a.m. Feb. 3: a 31-year-old man was unconscious and not breathing outside the Eastern Propane company.

John Cocarus the Survivor with Brandon Kimbrough the Saviour

Sitting in a meeting room at police headquarters, Officer Brandon Kimbrough heard the call and sprung into action. “Echo” level is the highest-priority medical call. He jumped in his cruiser and sped to the scene in seconds.

Like all city cruisers, Kimbrough’s is equipped with an automated external defibrillator.

He was going to need it.

The first emergency responder on scene, Kimbrough found Eastern Propane employee John Cocarus sprawled out on the ground, with a fellow employee performing CPR.

He lugged over the AED, hooked up the electrodes to his chest, and punched the shock button.

Seconds later, an ambulance arrived and whisked Cocarus away; he soon became responsive.

The shock Kimbrough administered was credited with saving Cocarus’ life. It allowed the Farmington resident to celebrate his 32nd birthday in March and earn a new appreciation for his family — including his four daughters.

On Sunday, Cocarus finally met the officer whose quick thinking and proper training prevented a tragedy.

“I don’t how else to thank you,” he told Kimbrough after shaking hands at police headquarters.

“It’s what we do,” the officer responded.

Cocarus arranged the meeting after he recovered enough to get back to work and exercise. Doctors said he went into cardiac arrest that day because he was severely dehydrated. They implanted a defibrillator to guard against another episode.

Accompanying him Sunday were his wife, Crystele, and daughters Madison, 13, Skyler, 8, Sydney, 4, and Reese, 1. His mother, Trudy, and father, Larry, also came.

“I’m just thankful … that the kids will have a father growing up,” said Crystele.

“It’s a good Mother’s Day present,” Trudy added.

Sgt. Jason Thomas said Kimbrough’s actions showed how much of a professional he is.

“We’re proud of him,” Thomas said.

A five-year veteran of the Rochester police force, Kimbrough credited his training for guiding his actions that day. He was humbled by Cocarus and his family’s gratitude.

Cocarus said he is working out and eating right to keep his heart healthy.

When he got out of the hospital, he said he realized how important his family is to him. Playing soccer and riding bikes with his children took on an added significance.

“That’s all I got is my family,” he said. “It puts things into perspective.”

Larry Collins was running sanding equipment when he was shocked at 2:04 p.m. Monday at Finished Metal Technologies, 3365 John F. Donnelly Drive, deputies said.

A co-worker managed to push him away from the machine and other workers started CPR on Collins.

When deputies arrived, he had no pulse and was not breathing, sheriff’s Lt. Mike Brookhouse said.

“We put the AED (defibrillator) on him. Within 30 seconds of it going off, he kind of started moving and breathing,” Brookhouse said.

All Ottawa County sheriff’s cruisers have portable AED units in their trunks, Brookhouse said.

“It saved this guy’s life. He is the luckiest guy around,” Brookhouse said.

Collins was taken to Holland Hospital to be treated.

Collins’ brother, Bob, described the situation as “touch and go” for a while, but said his brother was conscious and talking after being revived.

“He was putting up a fight about going to the hospital,” he said.

Keith Griffin, a 49-year-old father of five from Binghamton, had left the law office when a family member in his van got a garbled cell phone call. They thought they heard something about returning to the office, so Keith turned the van around and drove back to the office parking lot.

As soon as he pulled in, he suffered a cardiac arrhythmia, triggering a seizure that stopped his heart.

People in the office heard the cries for help. One of them grabbed the AED off the kitchen wall.

Attorney Mark Starkman, a former paramedic who had performed CPR “hundreds of times” more than 25 years ago, determined that Keith had no pulse.

He used a jolt from the AED to get Keith’s heart pumping again.

Moments later, Walden police Officer Robert Montanaro arrived and did CPR.

Keith then began breathing on his own and was rushed to the hospital.

He was discharged from Westchester Medical Center late last week after a permanent defibrillator had been implanted in his chest.

But Starkman says the real hero of this story was the piece of equipment hanging on the wall. And he also wants us to know that you don’t have to be a paramedic to use an AED.

I shouldn’t have worn so many clothes.

That’s what Tom Tharp was thinking Sunday as he re-entered The Oklahoman’s Edmond distribution center, 3700 S Kelly Ave.

Moments before, he’d partially filled his car with folded newspapers for his delivery route.

He came back inside to get more, but he was hot and nauseated, bundled up too warmly.

“I’m feeling lightheaded,” Tharp remarked, then realized he was falling to his knees.

“That was the last I knew until I woke up in the ambulance,” he said.

Tharp, 57, had suffered a heart attack.

Recovering Monday at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital, Tharp — a retired Oklahoma City police officer delivering papers as an independent contractor — credited his survival to three colleagues.

Sunday, Jonathan Powell, 24, and Melody Mahon, 19, were in the office at the distribution center, where route drivers fold and collect newspapers, when they heard someone had fainted. They saw Tracey Beamer on the floor near a sorting table, taking Tharp’s pulse.

“He’s stopped breathing,” Beamer said. “Does anyone know CPR?”

They didn’t. Not really. Powell had learned about it in high school and Boy Scouts but wasn’t certified, and Mahon hadn’t had any formal training, just bits and pieces she’d learned without really trying. But they rushed to help.

Powell began mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions. Beamer continued to monitor Tharp’s pulse, and Mahon tipped Tharp’s head back, keeping his airway open.

“After a few minutes, his color started coming back, and he was getting air,” Mahon said Monday. “His eyes were darting back and forth at people, but we knew he wasn’t conscious of what was going on.”

Powell said he continued CPR until police arrived. Firefighters and paramedics followed a few minutes later, and Tharp’s heart resumed beating on its own after he was zapped with a defibrillator.

“The doctor told me this morning that … if he hadn’t shocked him with those paddles, he would’ve died,” said Tharp’s wife, Cindy. “The people who worked on him with the CPR kept him alive.”

Powell said he is happy Tharp survived but is uncomfortable taking any credit.

“The real heroes are the policemen, the firefighters and the paramedics who do this every day,” he said.