Long Beach firefighters make two life-saving rescues in a week

“The probability of bringing someone back from cardiac arrest is under 7 percent,” said Sam Pinto, a six-year member of the Long Beach Fire Department’s professional unit. “It’s very slim, and especially having the people recover is a lower probability. The difference is the onset of the event where CPR and defibrillation is initiated … the sooner you can get that heart to beat again, the better the outcome can be.”

Luckily, for two patients whose hearts stopped beating a little over a week ago, firefighters beat the odds. In just a two-day period, firefighters helped save two sudden cardiac arrest victims and successfully revived the men — both of whom showed no vital signs when first responders arrived.

The first incident occurred on Nov. 26, when firefighters responded to an emergency call just after 8 a.m. on East Walnut Street. There, a man in his 60s was found unconscious in front of a home at 431 E. Walnut St. The man was believed to have been walking to temple when he collapsed suddenly, said Fire Chief Rich Corbett, who said that a passerby made the emergency call.

Upon arrival, firefighters immediately began CPR and other advanced life support measures, including the use of a defibrillator; intravenous medication and advanced airway management, and successfully revived the victim, Corbett said, adding that the man was taken to Long Beach Medical Center, where he was stabilized.

Firefighters were on scene within two minutes of the call and worked to revive the victim for about 10 minutes before he started breathing again and had a pulse.

“On the way to the hospital he had a heartbeat and he started breathing in the back of the ambulance,” Corbett said. “And once he was handed off the ER more advanced life support was given at the hospital,” he said. “Who knows how long he was laying there, and this is a classic example of why having on-duty, advanced life support personnel is essential in this community.”

The second incident occurred on Nov. 28, when the department received a 911 call for an incident at Long Beach Vacuum, located at 264 E. Park Ave., when a store employee in his mid-30s, initially thought to be having a seizure, went into cardiac arrest.