COURT HOUSE – There are times when a day off is not a day off. Kristen Davis, a township emergency medical technician and also a volunteer EMT for Middle Township youth football games, knows that well.
Davis was off duty and on the field at the Egg Harbor Township Veterans Memorial Sports Complex Nov. 4 as a volunteer when Coach Matt McAnaney fell to the ground unconscious and experienced a seizure.
In a letter written to Middle Township Committee and read by Mayor Michael Clark, Jeff McCart, president of the Middle Township Junior Panthers Football and Cheerleaders Association, credited Davis’ quick actions and the availability of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) with saving a life.
Davis was one of a small group of other off-duty medical personnel at the game who rushed to the fallen coach to render assistance.
Performing CPR and using three quick shocks from the AED, Davis and the others were able to revive McAnaney within two minutes. McAnaney was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Galloway.
An AED is a portable device with electrodes that can deliver a shock to a heart that is irregularly beating.
McAnaney, 43, said he had no awareness of potential heart problems.
The increased availability of AEDs is credited nationally with reduced fatalities in heart attack victims. An AED can cost about $2,000, and McCart hopes to have one always available at the Davies Recreation Complex.
A Go Fund Me page has been established and Committee Member Timothy Donohue said Dec. 4 that about half the money had been raised. For information, visit www.gofundme.com/2xuq4-aed-fund.
The honor for Davis allowed McAnaney and his family to say thank you in a public forum and gave the township the opportunity to acknowledge that vital work is done by its first responders, even on their days off.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
Sea Isle City – I would like to let everyone know that the fire chief salary also includes 4% raises in the next four years, while they offered public works and everybody else much less.
