Bradley McDougle of Springfield Township lay lifeless a year ago as his wife dialed 911 and tried to resuscitate him after he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.
When his heart stopped Sept. 5, 2015, he was revived with the help of the new CPR device that does the work of chest compressions and opening airways. He was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was treated for a week and released, according to Lucas County and township officials.
On Tuesday, Mr. McDougle, 50, stood beside country EMS crew members who used the device on him and lauded the CPR device they said helped save his life.
All county EMS vehicles were equipped with the new CPR equipment about a year ago, and county emergency crews underwent training in July, 2015, said Jonathon Ziehr, a county EMS spokesman. Since then, it has boosted the out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest survival rate by about five times.
County Commissioner Carol Contrada said the county spent more than $67,000 to buy 75 units — worth roughly $895 apiece — to ensure every first responder has one.
“This machine is awesome ...” said Mr. McDougle, an Edward Jones financial consultant in Sylvania. “It helped me. It can help a lot of people.”
Mr. McDougle was speaking at a morning news conference Tuesday at Springfield Township Fire Station 53, 7145 Garden Rd., with his wife, Tammy, their four children, and about a dozen county and township officials by his side.
Mr. Ziehr said since using the device a year ago, paramedics have five times the success rate of getting a patient’s pulse back: from “a dismal” 10 percent success rate a year ago to 45 to 50 percent now. The national average rate is 7 to 10 percent, he said.
He said the new CPR system has a pump that compresses and decompresses and a pod that goes over the top of the patient’s nose and mouth while increasing pressure on the chest. The two parts work together to boost blood flow to the heart and brain, he said.
“Ms. McDougle is the true hero and the reason her husband is standing with us here today,” township fire Lt. Andrew Sauder said.
Lieutenant Sauder, who was one of the first responders attending to Mr. McDougle during his cardiac arrest, then said once Ms. McDougle quickly called 911 and began CPR on her husband and the EMS quickly arrived, the use of the new CPR unit was instrumental in his survival.
Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.
First Published September 28, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
