Redondo Beach Fire Awards Woman They Helped Bring Back To Life

REDONDO BEACH, CA — Redondo Beach resident Annie Noguchi went into cardiac arrest in August of last year and went through 36 minutes of resuscitation before her pulse came back.

More than a year later on Dec. 6, the Redondo Beach Fire Department recognized Noguchi with the Heart Warrior award to celebrate her fight and recovery after that day.

"It really is just an awakening and awareness of who brought me here and why I'm here today," Noguchi said. "It was my husband and the paramedics and the doctors and the nurses, and for all of them to be here for this, it just means so much."

Redondo Beah Fire Department received the call about the emergency at 6:24 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2021 and found Noguchi on her kitchen floor in cardiac arrest, she was just getting ready for dinner with her family. Her husband Brian started CPR before the paramedics arrived.

Noguchi was placed in an automatic CPR device called an AutoPulse which helped bring her pulse back before she was transported to Providence Little Company of Mary where she remained for six weeks before she was allowed to return home.

Since then Noguchi has made a full recovery and went back to work as a first grade teacher at Garden Grove Elementary and spend more time with her family.

"I feel like I'm a different person when I'm teaching," Noguchi said. "I feel like I can learn to enjoy a few more things a little more. I'm just trying to stay present and to appreciate what I have."

The AutoPulse Machine is a fairly new piece of equipment for RBFD, but so far has helped save countless lives according to Fire Chief Patrick Butler. Before acquiring the device, the department's survivability was 36 percent and now it is 65 percent after two years of data.

"I've been here just a few months, I came from Los Angeles, and I have not seen this level of patient outcome," Butler said. "There's something unique about this program."