Tenth Person at Sky Harbor Saved with Defibrillator

(Phoenix, AZ) -- A 67-year-old man is alive today, thanks to the quick efforts of Phoenix Police officers, Phoenix Firefighters, a good Samaritan, and an Automated External Defibrillator device or AED. The man collapsed outside of the south security checkpoint in Terminal 3 shortly after 11am on Wednesday, December 1. A registered nurse who happened to witness the collapse began CPR, and Phoenix Police Officer Bill Collins immediately arrived with an AED and applied it to the victim who was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Officers David Gonzalez and Ken Crosier assisted. The AED unit indicated that a shock was needed. The man was shocked with the AED once and the officers and the off-duty nurse continued CPR.

Phoenix Fire Paramedics Mitch Laird and Steve Wheeler arrived and worked on the victim with the continued assistance of the officers. By the time the man was transported to a local hospital, his pulse had been restored and he was breathing on his own. The paramedics and hospital emergency staff said that the Phoenix police officers did an excellent job and the victim would have surely died at the scene if the officers had not begun CPR and used the AED.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has more than 55 AED’s available in public areas and employee work spaces. The Phoenix Police Airport Bureau bike teams carry the devices with them at the airport. Ten lives have now been saved at Sky Harbor with the help of AED’s.