Cop Saves life at Midway Airport

**bird1** · 01-30-09, 06:14 PM

Cop helps save life at Midway

January 29, 2009 8:30 PM |

It didn't take long for veteran Chicago Police Officer Robert Gamez to put his heart defibrillator training to good use.
Gamez is credited with helping to revive a man suffering from a heart attack at Midway Airport today, just one week after the officer received the training on how to operate a defibrillator, Chicago police said.

Shortly before 1 p.m., several travelers gathered at a Southwest Airlines gate waiting to board a plane to Nashville when one of the passengers, a man in his 50s, collapsed and appeared to suffer a seizure, according to a police news release.
A flight attendant grabbed a defibrillator from the plane and handed it to Gamez who immediately began to operate the life-saving device.
Gamez, a 25-year Chicago police veteran who's assigned to Midway, also began CPR. He was joined at the gate by a doctor who performed CPR on the man and administered an electric jolt that helped revive him, police said.
The man was taken to a local hospital where he was listed in stable condition and undergoing further treatment, police said.

Now this is more like it good news for a change. We've been kicked around by the media all week but it's time to pick ourselves up and brush the dirt off. I hope that we get more funding now so we can have one of those life saving devices in our patrol cars.

**jmur5074** · 01-30-09, 06:34 PM

Excellent work!!

**Jenna** · 01-30-09, 07:01 PM

awesome!

**Captain America** · 01-30-09, 07:17 PM

Great job. I noticed you have your badge avatar back up and the paper bag is gone as it should be. I started to make a joke along the lines of are you sure it was a Chicago cop but I read that Officer Gamez is a 25 year veteran. It's been a bad week for Illinois , period. Maybe now that your crazy Governor is out of office things will get better.

**BigDawg** · 01-30-09, 08:06 PM

Great job Officer

**bird1** · 01-30-09, 09:53 PM

Originally Posted by Captain America

Great job. I noticed you have your badge avatar back up and the paper bag is gone as it should be. I started to make a joke along the lines of are you sure it was a Chicago cop but I read that Officer Gamez is a 25 year veteran. It's been a bad week for Illinois , period. Maybe now that your crazy Governor is out of office things will get better.

Thanks Captain America, yes it has been a bad week. Just like anything else I'll hold my head up high suck it up and drive on.

**TXCharlie** · 01-30-09, 10:58 PM

Yeah, I think this more than makes up for the over-eager Explorer!

**gopherpuckfan** · 01-31-09, 02:53 AM

We've had a few saves here the past 2 years. We have TONS of defibs all over the airport. I've been on 2 of the saves, but wasn't the one doing CPR. It's a great program!

**Wolven** · 01-31-09, 07:06 AM

Originally Posted by bird1

Thanks Captain America, yes it has been a bad week. Just like anything else I'll hold my head up high suck it up and drive on.

+1

Hang in there..these things as we all know come and go in cycles. Our dept has had its fair share of national news too...all we can do is persevere and do the job that we need to and things will right themselves. Nature of the beast.

**Retdetsgt** · 01-31-09, 09:31 AM

I'm shocked the press even noticed. I just read where one of our young officers ran into a burning house and carried an elderly woman out of the basement. He had to go to the hospital for smoke inhalation. It was a tiny article in the second section of the paper.....

It's pretty rare the press cares. Rarely do they print anything but negative stories about us.

Cool that this Chicago guy got the recognition.....

**pgg** · 01-31-09, 06:02 PM

The defib program is a good thing. We have them for each car, except for one problem. All the batteries are now dead and we have ZERO money to replace them.

**TXCharlie** · 02-01-09, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by pgg

The defib program is a good thing. We have them for each car, except for one problem. All the batteries are now dead and we have ZERO money to replace them.

How old are they? That's hard to believe unless they're fairly old, defective, or have been used a lot.

Does the manual mention expected battery life? I would think they would use lithium batteries, which normally have a shelf life of 10 years, or maybe 4 or 5 years in heat. The units shouldn't drain them when they're turned off, unless they have a defect that drains the batteries over time.

I would force the manufacturer to explain why they're all dead if they're less than 4 or 5 years old, and try to get them to replace the batteries even if they're not in warranty - especially if the units haven't been used much.

The only thing I can think of that should cause that is if they are subjected to frequent testing.