Port Authority officers revive two in one day
58 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ FEBRUARY 2017
In the line of duty, every day brings new and unexpected work. For three Port Authority Local 116 officers, there’ s almost nothing quite like the day they experienced on Feb. 4, when they saved two lives at LaGuardia Airport by using CPR.
On that Saturday morning at approximately 11 a. m., Port Authority Officers Jason Berrios, Joseph Miranne and Anthony Oliveto responded to a report of an unconscious male at Gate 12 in LaGuardia’ s Terminal C. Upon their arrival, they discovered an 89-year-old Florida man on the floor of the terminal. He was not breathing and had no pulse. The officers began CPR and applied defibrillator pads to the man’ s chest.
The defibrillator indicated“ no pulse, no shock advised,” which gave the officers no choice but to continue CPR. The officers feverishly worked on the man until his chest began to rise on its own and a pulse was detected. By the time the New York City Fire Department Emergency Medical Service( FDNY EMS) arrived, the man was alert and speaking.
Hours later, as the officers continued patrol around the airport, the Port Authority officers were called to respond to another potentially fatal situation. A woman had gone into cardiac arrest at a bus stop outside of Terminal C, where the officers had revived the man only three hours earlier. They found the 67-year-old Tennessee woman on the floor of a bus. Once again, this person was not breathing and had no pulse. The officers immediately began CPR while attaching the defibrillator pads to the woman. After continuous CPR, the defibrillator detected a pulse and advised one shock, after which the woman’ s chest began to rise and she began to breathe on her own. The FDNY EMS transported the woman to the nearest hospital.
There are few better feelings in police work than being able to save a life. Saving two in one day just may be a once-in-acareer feeling. Each Port Authority officer is Certified First Responder trained( and annually recertified) in CPR, application of a defibrillator and the proper use of a tourniquet, among other lifesaving techniques. d