AED, CPR Vital In Petaluma Golf Course Rescue: Fire Dept.

PETALUMA, CA -- When a golfer suffered a cardiac arrest Saturday on a Petaluma golf course, officials with the Petaluma Fire Department say CPR combined with the use of an AED -- automated external defibrillator -- device by quick-thinking bystanders and golf course employees prevented the situation from becoming tragic.

Battalion Chief Jeff Schach said three Petaluma Fire Department units were dispatched to the Rooster Run Golf Course at 9:47 a.m. Saturday when a bystander called 911 to report that a person had suffered a cardiac arrest on the 14th hole.

Bystanders also started CPR and notified personnel at the course's clubhouse, who retrieved the AED that had recently been installed and rushed it to the 14th hole. Bystanders and staff deployed the AED and delivered a total of three shocks to the downed man, Schach said.

"While en route, dispatch updated fire units about CPR being in progress and that an AED had been deployed," Schach said.

Upon firefighters' arrival, they and their gear were escorted on golf carts to the patient's location, which according to Schach was a long distance from the clubhouse with limited vehicle access.

Once at the patient’s side, fire personnel discovered he was breathing on his own and had a pulse, Schach said. As they worked to stabilize the patient, they also discussed how they could remove him from the course using either a Petaluma police pick-up truck or an air ambulance.

But the use of a bystander’s pickup truck was decided to be the quickest option and the patient was transported via the truck to an adjacent neighborhood where a fire department ambulance was waiting.

The patient remained in stable condition as he was removed from the course and transported to the cardiac center in Santa Rosa, Schach said.

The battalion chief added that the rescue highlights the importance of bystander CPR and public access to AEDs. CPR buys time for first responders by keeping vital organs such as the heart and brain oxygenated, he said, while AEDs can shock someone’s heart into beating normally again.

"These devises are easy to use," Schach said. "They talk the bystander through the process and will not shock the person unless they need it. The bystander needs only to turn on the AED and listen to the instructions, without fear of doing any harm."

AEDs have recently been placed in several Petaluma locations through donations and coordination by public, private and community organizations, some of which include the Petaluma Fire Department, the Petaluma Healthcare District’s “Heartsafe Community” program, Cruisin’ the Boulevard’s “Save a Life” program, Save Lives Sonoma and others, he said.

"This specific AED at Rooster Run was donated by the Petaluma Valley Rotary only a year ago," Schach said.

Image via David Bruce Jr./Flickr Creative Commons