The Life You Save...May Be One of Your Own
by Mary M. Newman

Law enforcement attitudes change as saves hit close to home

Law enforcement agencies usually get involved in AED programs with the goal of saving the lives of the citizens they serve in their communities. Ironically, some have found that their first saves are actually fellow officers. Trooper Isaac Lanham, Chief Lee Donohue and Officer Mark Vollmar know this experience first hand. Here are their stories.

Pennsylvania Trooper
Issac "Zeke" Lanham, 31

Lanham was just an hour into his morning patrol when he began to feel ill. When he returned to the police barracks in Greensburg fellow troopers knew something was wrong and urged Lanham to go the emergency department. Just as he was leaving to go, he collapsed by the back door. Retrieving an AED from the nearby communications room fellow troopers Thomas O’Connor, Rusty Hays, Robert Stauffer and Christopher Karne provided CPR and operated the AED.

"The shocks brought him back to life," said Lieutenant Dale Blasko. A paramedic ambulance arrived six minutes later and the unit provided advanced life support.

Luckily for Lanham, the Pennsylvania State Police had begun to roll out its AED program one year earlier and had placed 150 devices in state police facilities. "The role of the law enforcement officer is ever changing," said State Police Major Robert Einsel. "The Pennsylvania State Police wants to remain a leader in providing protection to the public." Ironically, Greensburg received its device one week before Lanham’s collapse and one of the rescuers had just been trained.

"It could have been such a tragic story," said Blasko, "but it turned out to have a happy ending. Zeke is back to full duty and he and his wife are expecting their first child. If we did not have that AED, we feel certain he would have perished."

Honolulu Police Chief
Lee Donohue, 57

Chief Lee Donohue was enthusiastic about AEDs from the very first time he heard the idea of placing the devices in squad cars. He appealed to the city council, which appropriated enough funds to purchase 100 AEDs.

Finding police officers equally enthusiastic was not as easy, especially in a department that didn’t routinely respond to medical emergencies. Donohue anticipated opposition from some officers who believed that medical care was “not their job,” a view supported by the local police union. So he decided to make the program voluntary and asked Assistant Chief Boisse Correa to lead the initiative.

"I didn’t even know what an AED was at that point," said Correa.

He was assisted by Sergeant Mark Ward, who had suffered a heart attack and knew the value of the program. Only a handful of volunteers were trained when the program debuted in 1999.

Donohue also introduced a "Fit for Life" competition within the department around the time AEDs were introduced. During the first annual competition, Donohue, a martial arts expert, was competing on arrest tactics that required hand-to-hand combat. His opponent was a young, physically fit officer who provided a strenuous challenge. Donohue eventually won the contest, but he collapsed immediately afterward as his heart went into sudden cardiac arrest. As luck would have it, both Correa and Detective Mark Boyce, one of the officers who had been trained to use the AED, were at the competition. They ran for the AED in Correa’s car as another officer began CPR.

"At first there was a lot of confusion and chaos," said Boyce. "Then it seemed everyone was frozen. You could hear a pin drop."

Boyce attached the AED to Donohue’s bare chest and pressed the shock button as instructed by the device. After two shocks, Donohue had a pulse. Boyce was amazed and found himself thinking, "This stuff really works! It works!" Donohue was transported to the hospital and woke up the next day. He received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator and was back on the job in a matter of weeks. Donohue has since resumed running and teaching karate.

Donohue’s fellow officers also are thankful, since they consider themselves more like family than colleagues. So far about 400 of the department’s 2,000 officers have been trained and equipped with AEDs and five other lives have been saved, including that of a retired police officer.

The department aims to eventually equip every vehicle, according to Correa. "All the officers want one," he said. "Our advice to other police departments is to get involved and do it now," he continued. "It’s one of the very few ways we have to save lives. And it helps build a certain esprit de corps among the officers and in the community. AEDs are here to stay. I just know they are going to save more officers’ lives."

Indiana Officer
Mark Vollmar, 41

On January 31, 1998 ,Vollmar, an off-duty police officer from the Muncie (Indiana) Police Department, drove into town with his two young sons. Suddenly, he slumped over in cardiac arrest, landing on the younger boy. The older boy tried to get his father’s foot off the pedal, with no luck. Thinking quickly, he turned off the ignition and steered the car safely to the front yard of a church.

Several observers called 9-1-1. A motorist flagged down a car driven by Deputy Daniel Hahn of the Delaware County Sheriff Department, who was on his way to work and had just been notified by the dispatcher about the emergency a few blocks away. As this was happening, two nurses came upon the churchyard scene and saw Mark being lifted from the car to the ground. As they began CPR, a family friend happened on the scene and who was able to shelter the boys from the drama.

Split seconds later, Hahn arrived with his new AED and recalling his training followed the voice prompts to deliver the first shock. After two more shocks, Mark’s pulse was restored. It was only then that Hahn realized the person he was treating was a fellow officer and friend. A paramedic ambulance arrived and responders provided advanced life support. One week later, he was discharged from the hospital. He returned to work within a few weeks.

Before this event, Hahn had been a vocal opponent of the program. "When I first heard about these defibrillators, I thought it was a bad rumor," Hahn said later. "EMS doesn’t do our work--I didn’t think we should be doing theirs. I had a really bad attitude. I just didn’t think this should be part of my job description."

Today, there is no stronger advocate of police AED programs than Hahn, who has spoken to numerous law enforcement and EMS groups to champion the idea. "I want to do anything I can to help save lives," he said.

Truly a Blessing