A Community Chain of Survival

Community Ambulance Company Friday responded to a Bohemia business on a report that a male worker was seizing within six minutes of the initial 911 call for help.

Community Ambulance Company members Tom Fealey, Christopher Gonzales, Rachel Ferlin, Paul Mastronardi, Brad Marcinek, James MacDonell, Christina Kelly and Giuseppina Amendola immediately responded to Nature’s Bounty, 90 Orville Drive, Bohemia, for a report of a male who was having a seizure. 

Upon arrival, the ambulance crew found a 56-year-old factory floor employee who had no pulse and was not breathing. Co-workers who witnessed the man go down had initiated CPR prior to the ambulance arriving.

Community Ambulance Company personnel then continued CPR, assisted breathing and applied an AED. The AED is a computerized medical device which can check a person’s heart rhythm, recognize a rhythm that requires a shock and advises the rescuer when a shock is needed. In this situation the AED immediately analyzed and the members from Community Ambulance initiated a shock.  Additionally, advanced life support intervention was administered using several life saving medications and a 12 lead EKG was acquired.

Sudden cardiac arrest is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating and can be caused by a disruption in the heart’s electrical conduction system. Early access to 911, early bystander CPR, early defibrillation and early advanced care are the four links in the community chain of survival.

The quick actions of fellow employees to immediately start CPR coupled with trained Emergency Medical Technician advanced life support and utilization of an AED to deliver a shock proved to be successful in illustrating the strong community chain of survival. This team effort resulted in the patient regaining consciousness in the ambulance en route to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.  

On arrival at Southside Hospital, the patient had strong stable vital signs, being able to respond to all inquiries to emergency personnel. Later that evening, the patient was recuperating in the hospital. This team effort proved instrumental in saving a life.

Community Ambulance serves Bayport, Bohemia, Oakdale, Sayville and West Sayville. It offers CPR and AED training free of charge to our community upon request. Saving a life can be an unexpected rewarding experience. The company encourages all members of the community to learn CPR and AED.