Wildwood Firefighters Use AED; Save Life of 80-year-old

WILDWOOD – On March 28, members of the C-Platoon were just completing a fire safety inspection at a Rio Grande Avenue convenience store when crew members overheard a patron asking the cashier to call 9-1-1. Someone had passed out in the bathroom.
According to a Wildwood Fire Department release, Firefighters Gerry Vessels and Sean Stanton immediately went to the bathroom and found the subject in a locked bathroom stall.  
Vessels radioed for the ambulance, which was in front of the store, of his findings and to bring medical equipment.  Vessels then climbed over the stall to gain access, unlocked the door and pulled out the 80-year-old patient.  
A quick evaluation determined the patient was in cardiac arrest.  
CPR was initiated by Vessels and Stanton.  Firefighters Rich Harron and Brendan Phillips arrived and applied an automated external defibrillator.  A total of two shocks were delivered that restored the patient’s pulse; the patient then also began to breathe on his own.  
Without firefighters being at this location performing their duties at that exact time along with their quick actions gaining access to the patient behind the locked stall door, the outcome could have been grave, according to the release.  Prior to transporting, the patient was conscious and orientated speaking to those who had saved his life.  
The patient was transported to Atlantic City Medical Center –Mainland Campus by Wildwood City Fire Department Ambulance 3-2 along with Medic 9, according to Fire Chief Daniel Speigel.