Quick Response, CPR In Cedar Grove May Have Saved A Life: Police

CEDAR GROVE, NJ — Quick action and time-tested CPR and AED techniques may have saved the life of a Cedar Grove man last week, authorities said.

According to the Cedar Grove Police Department, officers received 911 calls about an “unresponsive” man at a Bowden Road home at 8:05 a.m. on Jan. 2. On arrival, the officers found a man “slumped over,” not breathing and in cardiac arrest.

The officers immediately started CPR and AED protocols, putting a LUCAS chest compression device into action. Emergency responders performed chest compressions and provided shocks, and the man regained his pulse and breathing, authorities said.

The officers continued to provide care until paramedics and personnel from the Cedar Grove Ambulance and Rescue Squad arrived. The emergency responders then transported the man to Mountainside Hospital, where he was hospitalized in critical condition.

Although the man remains hospitalized, his condition has “vastly improved” and he is lucid, alert and expected to recover, police announced Thursday.

“I am extremely proud of the manner in which all the first responders performed, especially the police officers in those first critical minutes of care,” Police Chief Joseph Cirasa said, adding that the rescue was a “team effort.”

Cirasa said that the department’s new LUCAS chest compression unit was instrumental in the rescue.

The unit was purchased by the Cedar Grove Ambulance and Rescue Squad and carried by police who are the first to arrive. So far, the device has resulted in improved emergency medical care, Cirasa said.

A second unit is expected to be purchased and deployed shortly, the chief said.

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Photo: Cedar Grove Police Department