L
2016 NJSPBA
Valor Awards
d
ifesa
ving Awar
Officer Jorge Salgado
Officer Jesus Aristy
Lieutenant Monica Ramos
West New York Local 361
A real wife-saver
Jorge Ramos was on a Sunday afternoon drive with his wife
and two young daughters when, with no warning, he went into
cardiac arrest. This is nothing like a heart attack. All oxygen to
the brain is cut off; death can come in minutes.
West New York Lieutenant Monica Ramos responded in seconds. The car had been stopped at a traffic light. She managed
to shift it into park, called for an ambulance and began CPR.
And the quick response saved the life of her husband, West New
York Sergeant and former longtime Local 361 State Delegate,
Jorge.
“He must have sensed he was going to pass out or something
because he was like, ‘Oh Babe,’” Lieutenant Ramos explained.
“I actually thought he was kidding. I asked, ‘Are you fooling
around?’ He didn’t answer, so I knew something was wrong. I
remember vividly seeing his eyes rolled back and I knew he was
losing consciousness.”
Monica began CPR. Moments later, Officer Jorge Salgado
arrived and took over compressions. Officer Jesus Aristy was
the next to respond. A rookie right out of the academy, Aristy
had been an EMT. He pulled Jorge out of the car and continued
compressions, which allowed Monica to tend to daughters Ma-
rissa and Mariah, who was awakened by the incident.
“I think, realistically, the police training came into play; the
react mode because, yes, it was my husband but I just had to
jump into action,” Lieutenant Ramos added. “Having my girls
in the car really helped. Seeing them, I knew I couldn’t lose control because it was only going to make them more scared.”
Aristy managed to bring Jorge back for a gasp of air, but three
jolts with a defibrillator were needed to fully revive him. The
incident occurred on July 19, 2015, and Jorge finally returned to
work in March 2016, just in time to make his final NJ State PBA
meeting. With 350,000 dying each year from cardiac arrest, he
knew how lucky he was to have his wife by his side on this day
– and every day.
“I’m blessed to be a police officer, blessed to be alive and
blessed to be married to a wonderful woman who was able to
keep me in the game and saved by the guys in my town,” Jorge
celebrated. “If you think of all the coincidences it took for it to
happen the way it did, you realize they are not coincidences.
It’s mind-blowing and for that I am grateful. And I think about
it every day.” d
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ DECEMBER 2016 57