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“I felt like I had the flu or something,” Ward explained while describing that day.

“Didn’t have chest pain or anything. Just dropped while I was working in the cafeteria.”

Ward continued “They did CPR and couldn’t get anything And I was starting to change colors. The staff did a wonder taking care of me Making sure I’m still here.”

Ward, affectionately known as Mr. Bill around in the halls of the school, says his favorite job now is checking on the AED—making sure the battery always reads “ok.”

“Check it once a month,” he said while pointing out the battery.

School leaders say there’s one AED in every elementary and middle school, and three per high school. They were installed six years ago at a cost of $151,000.

Ward says they’re priceless.

“I think it’s a really wise investment,” he joked. “But if you need it, it’s a godsend.”

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The teacher, whose name and other health details have not been released, was taken to Palos Community Hospital by paramedics and is now in stable condition, said school nurse Anne Connelly-Mitros.

The teacher was sitting in her chair in a classroom with students when she fell to the floor without warning. Students were moved out of the classroom and Connelly-Mitros reported with the defibrillator.

“The AED was used on her because I did not feel a pulse,” she said, adding that it was the first time school officials have used one of its AED’s in an emergency.

“Once I realized it was a life or death situation, I just got into a mode that we had to do what we had to do,” she said. “We were very organized and it worked out very well.”

A social worker spoke with students from the class and made calls to their parents to explain what happened. Asst. Principal Annette Szczasny said the students were concerned about their teacher but they are being updated on her condition.

“We have let them know that she is in good hands and that there is constant contact between her family and the school,” she said.

As the day was winding down, Connolly-Mitros said the school was filled with a sense of relief that staff members had acted quickly and that their colleague was OK.

“We’re very, very happy here today,” she said. “As terrible as the situation is, it went smoothly.”

Superintendent Mike Byrne said he was thankful for the quick thinking of the school’s staff and for the defibrillator.

“It seems to me it really prevented something that could have been tragic,” he said. “We’re glad the AEDs are here and they did what they were supposed to do.”

Barney, 58, a technician with the city of Reno’s public works department since 1999, was cutting roots for a project off of Robb Drive last week while the contractors with the concrete company were working nearby.

“Alan was bent down, he was sawing on a root and told our guys that ‘I’m getting too old for this,’” said Mike Popejoy, the owner of Reno Concrete, on Tuesday. “Then, he just passed out and fell backward.”

That’s when Raul Castillo, Bill Nagel and Jose Garcia started CPR and got one of the defibrillators stashed away in one of their work trucks. First responders arrived about a minute later, Popejoy said.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them,” Barney said from his hospital room. “Their guys showed up and saved my cookies.”

It wasn’t the first time Reno Concrete had faced a life-threatening situation. One of their employees suffered a heart attack three years ago, resulting in the company buying the defibrillators and training everyone how to use them, Popejoy said.

“You don’t think you’re ever going to use it,” he said. “But it was sure nice to have.”

After the heart attack, Barney woke up a couple of days later with tubes running into his body while his two sons, Justin, 18, and Ryan, 21, stayed by his side.

Barney had triple bypass surgery Saturday but was hoping to leave the hospital by Wednesday. And while he’s not sure about Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, his sons said they’ll likely delay their holiday dinner by a couple weeks to let their father recuperate.

Barney said he’s now thinking about retirement after nearly 33 years of public service, including jobs in Lassen County, Calif., and with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

And as families sit down around table to say what they’re thankful for this week, Justin Barney said that’s an easy question to answer: The men and the machine that helped save his father’s life.

“I think Reno should increase more of the defibrillators in the contractor trucks,” he said. “Because if it wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be here right now.”

Craig Nedell, Robert Mancinelli & Jerry Wainio the Saviours

He had no pulse.

He was lifeless.

Angel Caguana, 23, of Brockton and another roofer had been struck by an electrical current when a ladder they were moving off a house in Bridgewater fell back and came in contact with nearby utility wires.

Fire Lt. Robert Mancinelli, who was among the first emergency crews to arrive on the scene, said Caguana had no pulse.

“I’ve never had anything this serious,” Mancinelli, a 24-year fire veteran, recalled later.

Mancinelli, 47, and firefighters Jerry Wainio, 32, and Craig Nedell, 46, worked on Caguana with a defibrillator, which gives a therapeutic dose of electrical energy to the heart to start it beating again.

As bystanders watched, the rescue workers shocked Caguana once with the defibrillator and administered CPR for about five minutes before they finally got a pulse, fire officials said. All three are paramedics.

Wainio said he has worked on “a lot of people” and “most don’t come back (with a pulse).”

Caguana “was really young and that’s a huge contributing factor. He actually left here with a pulse and breathing on his own,” Wainio said.

Caguana, still unconscious, was picked up by a medical helicopter at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church parking lot on Center Street and flown to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with serious injuries.

The hospital could not provide a condition for him on Wednesday. The Fire Department said Wednesday evening that he is in serious condition, but would probably not sustain any permanent neurological damage. However, he did suffer some severe burns, according to the Fire Department.

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Back in May, one of the employees at ECR International suffered a heart attack in the Customer Service Department. A signal code red alerted other employees in the building who are trained as first responders and the employee’s pulse was restored with an automated external defibrillator.

Director of Human Resources Johnita DeMatteo says the incident was life changing for all involved.

“I was really very concerned about the employee, hoping that he was going to be okay,” DeMatteo said. “I just did what I had to do. I really didn’t think about it. Your adrenaline kicks in and you just do what you have to do.”

The contractor, 24-year-old Zaed Quituqa of Haledon, was listed in critical condition at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton this evening, he said.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) initiated by Quituqa’s coworkers and continued by Officer Shawn Carroll and Sgt. Michael Yeh, along with the use by the police officers of an automated external defibrillator (AED), was credited with saving Quituqa’s life, Edgar said.

Standing on the elevated platform of a scissor-type lift, Quituqa and a coworker from I & T Electrical Lighting of Paterson were working on overhead lights in the public works garage in the 200 block Bakers Basin Road when the accident happened about 3:15 p.m., Edgar said.

Police are still investigating exactly what happened, he said, but somehow Quituqa came in contact with electricity.

When his coworker realized Quituqa was being shocked, the coworker used his foot to kick Quituqa clear of the lighting and anything else he might have been touching, such as the metal rails for one of the garage’s overhead doors, according to Edgar. The coworker was not hurt, he said.

The coworker quickly lowered the lift and he and others moved Quituqa from the lift to the floor. He was not breathing and had no pulse at that time, Edgar said.

While a public works employee dialed 911 to request assistance, he said, Quituqa’s coworkers started CPR.

Carroll and Yeh soon arrived. Confirming that Quituqa was in cardiac arrest, they connected a defibrillator to Quituqa and delivered an electrical pulse to his body in the hope the targeted shock would jumpstart his heart into beating correctly again, Edgar said. After the delivering the shock, Carroll and Yeh resumed CPR.

After about two minutes of them performing CPR, Quituqa’s heart began beating again and he started to breathe, he said.

Lawrence Township Emergency Medical Service personnel and paramedics from Capital Health System then arrived to take over patient care. They quickly bundled Quituqa into an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital in Trenton.

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The Invercargill Licensing Trust recently granted more than $4000 to buy its 57th defibrillator for the region – Mr Morrison’s life was saved by one of the first.

Russell Morrison the Survivor

In early 2008 the defibrillator was donated to the Georgetown Bowling Club. Three weeks later Mr Morrison, then 65 and working as the club’s greenkeeper, collapsed.

He was preparing the green for an upcoming tournament when he stopped breathing, he said yesterday.

“I was told that the mower took off, ending up in a ditch, and I landed on the green.”

Two first-year bowlers assisted. One started CPR while the other rushed for his cellphone to call an ambulance.

Another club member and trained defibrillator operator who happened to be driving past was flagged down and he began attempting to restart Mr Morrison’s heart.

“I’m told I leapt 75mm off the ground,” he said.

The ambulance quickly arrived, paramedics took over and he was resuscitated another three times.

He was taken to Southland Hospital and his daughter Pam Wilson and her two brothers were told the news was grim.

“I got a call to say Dad had collapsed and it wasn’t looking good. I was told there was no hope. I didn’t think he would survive,” Mrs Wilson said yesterday.

Mr Morrison was incoherent and does not remember the next few days.

“There was not much that could be done for me and virtually, I was in a room to die.”

But the defibrillator proved its worth and left doctors in awe of Mr Morrison’s recovery.

He was taken through to Dunedin for an angiogram and it was found a blood clot was the cause. He also had 90 per cent of three parts of his arteries blocked.

Mr Morrison said he appreciated everyone’s contribution and the defibrillator.

“When I look back I have enjoyed the past few years and look forward to many more. The defibrillator saved my life.”

Meghan Pituch, 26, a graphic artist and analyst who’s worked at the Montreal-based IT company for four years, jumped out of her seat and ran toward the commotion. She found her colleague, 62-year-old Bruce Strissel, slumped over in his chair. Some coworkers froze in fear while others ran to dial 911 or fled in search of help.

Pituch got moving, too – toward Strissel. She and Donna Jordan, a colleague who works for BAE Systems, performed CPR on the government worker while another colleague Barbara Gault, who is certified in CPR, supervised them until the paramedics arrived. Because of their quick thinking and swift action, Strissel is alive and well today.

To recognize their efforts, the American Heart Association (AHA); the DC City Council; and DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services honored the three women as Heartsaver Heroes at a ceremony at the City Council steps on June 2. Part of National CPR Week, they each received a framed award certificate and a letter of recognition from DC Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.

“Even though Meghan was not certified in CPR at the time, she, Barbara and Donna demonstrated that being active responders saves lives,” said Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president at CGI and a member of AHA’s Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Board of Directors. “This shows you simply cannot be a passive bystander in times of an emergency medical crisis.”

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Lloyd Clausen, 57, a contract manager for lines company Orion, suffered a cardiac arrest while at work on March 31, but was revived by CPR-trained workmates. He was with a colleague in the cafeteria when he lost consciousness.

Lloyd Clausen the Survivor

“Apparently my eyes rolled back and I just collapsed on the floor,” he said.

“[The colleague] tried the pericardial thump, which is the big `boomph’ on the chest, and that didn’t do anything. He yelled at the top of his voice, and that brought people running.”

More Orion staff arrived with the company’s defibrillator that Clausen had lobbied for, while others continued CPR. A single electrical charge restarted Clausen’s heart before he was rushed to hospital for surgery.

Doctors told him his condition had only a 2 per cent survival rate.

A defibrillator at Christchurch International Airport prompted Clausen’s push to have one at Orion. The resuscitation was a “team effort”.

“Someone didn’t want me to die,” he said. “I don’t think the guys see themselves as heroes, but I’m grateful. How do you thank people like that?”

Clausen said he “probably wouldn’t be here” had he been anywhere else at the time

“Luckily for me, we had the machine there, we had the people there trained to use it, and also people with CPR training.”

Electrical workers receive emergency training as part of their registration.

Clausen, a volunteer firefighter in Leeston, said he had experience as a rescuer and knew his workmates were scared.

“I’ve done [CPR] on people I don’t know and I’ve done it on people I do know, so I know the pressure’s on when it’s someone you know,” he said.

Greg Birely & Joe Chavira the Saviours

When he arrived, he found a male on the floor; no pulse could be detected.

He applied the defibrillator patches to the man’s body and with the assistance of Detective Birely, delivered three shocks to the man’s system and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

Birely was then asked to drive the ambulance to the hospital.

“Because of their quick response, critical thinking and strong desire to provide the best possible service to the Delta community, I would like to present to Sgt. Chavira and Det. Birely the Lifesaving Award,” Thomas said. Mayor Mary Cooper enthusiastically led a round of applause. The former owner of Delta Motor Parts, she said the man who suffered the heart attack was “a very dear friend and an employee of almost 20 years.”

Humbled by the award, Sgt. Chavira said he was thankful God put him in a situation to help. Detective Birely said it’s an honor for them both to serve the citizens of Delta. They don’t do the job for recognition, but do appreciate the award. “Thankfully we were able to help the gentleman,” Birely said.