On Jan. 2, the country watched in anguish as medical crews raced to the aid of football player Damar Hamlin, a Buffalo Bills player who collapsed during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Their swift response is credited with saving his life. Ever since that game, our collective awareness of the importance of CPR has been heightened.
While our lives don’t play out on ESPN, we do have medical crews waiting on the sidelines here, too. The firefighter-paramedics of the Plain Township Fire Department (PTFD) are always ready to respond with the same speed and expertise that we witnessed on TV.
I sat down with Fire Chief Pat Connor and Lt. Mark Powell to talk about the importance of CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the use of an AED, which is a portable automated external defibrillator that shocks a life-threatening heart rhythm. They shared that “lives are being saved in public because of chest compressions and early defibrillation.”
The first thing they want the community to understand is that CPR is no longer done with mouth-to-mouth breathing protocols.
“The science has changed,” Powell says, and CPR is now hands-only. The goal is fast, adequate chest compressions to keep the blood moving through the body to oxygenate the brain and heart.
The PTFD follows the American Heart Association (AHA) protocol of 100 to 120 compressions per minute – push hard and fast with one hand placed over the other at the center of the chest. Connor says to match the beat of the aptly titled song, “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees with your compressions.
According to the AHA, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of a hospital setting every year.
All PTFD firefighters are certified paramedics, which means they can provide the highest level of pre-hospital emergency care. Every response vehicle in the department is equipped with either an AED or state-of-the-art heart monitor, which improves victim survivability when minutes matter. Our medics are “rolling emergency rooms,” Connor says.
Powell shared that AEDs analyze the rhythm and identify whether a shock is necessary.
“Sometimes,” he says, “it’s not appropriate to defibrillate, and that’s where our training comes in.”
In fact, every firefighter is required to be certified in advanced cardiac life support and pediatric advanced life support. That training is put to the test every day in our community. In 2022, PTFD had 2,922 runs, and of those, 1,995 were EMS.
They want the community to know that they are ready to sustain life in an emergency and they hope every citizen learns CPR.
“We had a 55-plus community (members) call us after that football game,” Powell says. “We’re going to provide CPR training in their clubhouse.”
Any neighborhood or community group is welcome to contact the department to ask about training, because “if high-quality compressions are begun before we arrive,” Connor says, “the chance of survival increases significantly.”
Lastly, they also want the community to understand the protocols related to DNR, which is a “do not resuscitate” order. If a loved one has a DNR, then family members must have a copy readily available to present to the paramedics.
“Our duty is to act,” Powell says. “We have to make decisions within seconds of our arrival.”
Here’s what they want the community to do if someone collapses or becomes unresponsive.
Call 911.
Check for a pulse and signs of breathing.
Begin chest compressions and don’t stop until the paramedics arrive.
Stay calm, the 911 dispatcher will stay on the line with you.
To learn more, visit the AHA website at cpr.heart.org or the Plain Township Fire Department at plaintownship.org.
Kerri L. Mollard is a Plain Township Trustee. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
