AED at S.C. Gym Helps Firefighter Save Gym-Goer

A patron at a gym in Beaufort, S.C., stepped in this week to help another gym-goer who was suffering from cardiac arrest, saving his life. 

Adam Jordan, who is an area firefighter and EMT, was working out with his wife Tuesday morning at the Planet Fitness at Cross Creek Shopping Center when a man went into cardiac arrest and started turning blue, ExploreBeaufortSC.com reported. Jordan immediately began working to save the man by performing CPR.

While Jordan began compressions, Planet Fitness employee Don Martz ran and got the automated external defibrillator, or AED, from the front desk.

“In five years with the company, I’ve pulled the machine twice and used it once [on Tuesday],” Martz said, as reported by the Beaufort Gazette. “We’ve only had two emergencies where they’ve taken people away." 

After a few rounds of compressions and one shock with the AED, the man was alert and talking.

Beaufort/Port Royal firefighters arrived at the Planet Fitness and started IV fluids. The patient was then taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

The City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department encouraged all businesses, schools, and facilities to have an AED, and have their staff CPR certified.

Effective CPR provided by a bystander in the first few minutes of a cardiac can increase the chance of survival by two-to-three times, according to the report. CPR aids in maintaining a vital flow of blood back to the brain and heart. It also aids in increasing the duration of electric shock provided by an AED, making the process more effective.

Timeline of CPR and outcomes: 

• 0 – 4 minutes – unlikely development of brain damage
• 4 – 6 minutes – possibility of brain damage
• 6 – 10 minutes – high probability of brain damage
• 10+ minutes – probably brain damage