CrossFit trainer helps save mans life, along with much needed cardiac arrest tool

WFSB, MIKE PAPALE, CNN

By Hector Molina

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    MILFORD, Connecticut (WFSB) — A life-saving effort by a CrossFit trainer is a big reason why a Milford man is still alive after a cardiac arrest.

Dan Wassmer was coaching a class at Milford CrossFit when he heard a call to save a life.

Someone came running in yelling, “We need a doctor!”

Wassmer may not be a doctor, but he is a retired firefighter and paramedic.

When he noticed someone from a nearby martial arts academy was in cardiac arrest, he grabbed his gym’s AED, a device that helps bring a hearts rhythm back to normal, and sprung into action.

“We did compressions, we analyzed. The AED advised us to shock, so we shocked. We did more CPR, and then he started to move around and do some breaths on his own,” Wassmer said.

Wassmer was able to help the man until the fire department arrived and continued the process.

The fire department says that the man he helped is now out of the hospital.

Despite heroic thinking, Wassmer is not calling himself one and is just thankful he had the expertise, help, and equipment to make a difference.

“This wasn’t successful because I have a history of being a firefighter and paramedic. It worked because someone was there who knew CPR. It worked because there was an AED nearby, and people weren’t afraid to use it. All that stuff came together. They call it the chain of survival, and I just happened to be in that chain,” Wassmer said.

“A sudden cardiac arrest happened, there was an AED on site, there was a person there trained who knew what to do, and that resulted in a life being saved,” said Mike Papale, President and Founder, In A Heartbeat Foundation.

Papale has been in that exact situation.

He suffered a sudden cardiac arrest when he was 17 at Dad’s Basketball Camp.

But his incident was missing something that Wassmer thankfully had.

“There was no AED on sight. The place I was at wasn’t prepared. Fortunately, there was a volunteer EMT next door that gave me really good CPR for a significant period of time,” Papale said.

After his experience, Papale wanted to make sure every place was prepared.

He’s now the president and founder of the ‘In A Heartbeat Foundation,’ which helps provide heart screenings and donate AEDs in gyms, schools, businesses, and other places that need them.

“Sudden cardiac arrest doesn’t discriminate. It happens to everybody, people of all ages. That’s why it’s important these machines are everywhere people gather, and they’re ready to be used,” Papale explained.

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