Roland "Mike" Dulaney survived sudden cardiac arrest on Christmas night. The SCA Foundation recognized his rescuers at an event Sunday in Penn Hills, PA. They include Andrea Huzinec, a neighbor who provided CPR, and responders from Rosedale VFD, Plum EMS, and Forbes Paramedic Response Unit.
PITTSBURGH--Nick Gerstel had just finished Christmas dinner at his father's Penn Hills home when the radio his dad uses as a volunteer firefighter sounded.
“We heard the call go out,” said Gerstel, 29, a firefighter and EMT in South Strabane. A 62-year-old man in the neighborhood had collapsed after going into cardiac arrest.
The Rosedale Volunteer Fire Department, where his father, Jeff Gerstel, is assistant chief, dispatched a response unit. It was six blocks away.
Nick Gerstel started running. He was only two streets from the home of Roland “Mike” Dulaney and aided in administering CPR. He also called the fire station to say the patient needed an automated external defibrillator, or AED.
Meanwhile, neighbor Andrea Huzinec, who is a nurse, went to Dulaney's home and performed CPR until firefighters arrived.
With that and the AED, Dulaney's heart soon was beating and he was breathing on his own.
“Having them there with the AED was key,” the younger Gerstel said.
He and others who aided in saving Dulaney were recognized Sunday by the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, headquartered in Wexford.
SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
It Takes a Village to Save a Life
The SCA Foundation recognized the following individuals for helping to save the life of Mike Dulaney, noting that "To save one life is to save the world":
Neighbor who provided CPR at the residence
- Andrea Huzinec
Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services Division of 9-1-1 Commmunications
- David Nickel
- Patti Misselwitz
- Jeremy Olsen
Rosedale Volunteer Fire Department
- Nick Gerstel
- Stacy Gerstel
- Tom Hordubay
- James Muse
- Frank Ribich
- Matthew Strauss (former member who secured the AED used in save from the St. Margaret Foundation in 2002)
Plum EMS
- Eric Ritter
- Glenn Kopec, Jr.
- Dan Fitzhenry
- David Bender
Forbes Paramedic Response Unit
- Steve Simpkin