A Connecticut College security officer is being hailed a hero after he used an automatic external defibrillator to revive a man having a heart attack on campus Tuesday.
Doctors say the only reason the 68-year-old man is alive is because of the actions of Officer Eric Roode, who used the AED to deliver two shocks to the man and administered CPR.
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Roode, who has worked at the college for nearly 11 years, was responding to an emergency call in a dorm building Tuesday morning when he found the man showing signs of a heart attack, according to The Day.
The officer quickly retrieved an AED and used it along with CPR until New London emergency personnel arrived.
The man, an employee at the college, regained a pulse and began breathing in the ambulance as he was being rushed to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. A few hours later the man was conscious and talking.
A paramedic returned to the campus later in the day to tell Roode he’d saved the man’s life.
“I was just thrilled to know [the man had survived],” Roode says.
Roode says he felt confident using the AED because of his training and the clear instructions on the device.
Connecticut College installed multiple AEDs around campus several years ago in accordance with a Connecticut law that requires higher education institutions to have at least one AED on campus.
New London Fire Department Battalion Chief Edward Sargent, citing the relatively cheap cost of AEDs, says he supports installing them in as many public places as possible.
“They’re getting more and more common,” Sargent says. “Ask this gentleman’s family how much they’re worth.”
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