NORTH GREENBUSH, NY - First responders in the Town of North Greenbush were recognized and honored for their work with two successful cardiac arrest reversals, both within one week of each other.

At a Town Board meeting on Thursday, August 6th, first responders from North Greenbush Police, North Greenbush Ambulance Association and the Defreestville Volunteer Fire Department were recognized for their work in reversing two cardiac arrest cases within one week.

In the meeting, Supervisor Joseph Bott mentioned how only 5-10 percent of calls where CPR is started outside of the hospital have a successful outcome.

“The critical factor is getting quality CPR started quickly,” he said. “We are immensely proud to report that we have had two such cases within a week of each other.”

Due to the quick actions of the first responders, both cardiac arrest survivors were in attendance of the Town Board meeting for the recognition ceremony.

The first incident occurred in the afternoon of Friday, April 26th, when Michael Decelle went into cardiac arrest outside the Dunkin Donuts Shop 76 located on North Greenbush Road in North Greenbush.

First responders from North Greenbush Police, North Greenbush Ambulance and Defreestville Fire arrived on the scene and administered CPR. After 15 minutes of working on the patient, they were able to regain a pulse and get Decelle transported to the hospital for additional advanced treatment.

Responding to that call included Officers Nolan Gray and Alexander Verardi of North Greenbush Police; Daria Juliano, Jon Brady, James Conley, Jessica Cruickshank and Kathy Allen of North Greenbush Ambulance; as well as Assistant Chief Daniel Sheehan, Lieutenant Jeffrey Belschwinder and Firefighter Robert Durivage of the Defreestville Fire Department.

The second incident occurred at a private residence in North Greenbush on Wednesday, May 1st. In the early morning hours on that date, Kevin Gould went into cardiac arrest.

Past Chief of the Defreestville Fire Department, Michael Lashmet, and his daughter Kim heard the call and rushed across the street to begin CPR.

All three police, fire and EMS agencies responded to the scene and were able to return a pulse to Gould within minutes with assistance from a defibrillator.

Albany Medical Center Hospital Dr. Warren Hayashi, a town resident, also heard the call and responded to the scene to assist and begin advanced care in the field prior to the arrival at a hospital.

Recognized in this incident were Sgt. Josiah Deeb of the North Greenbush Police Department; Benjamin Bornhorst, Jordan Baldwin, Cylie Vanderwal and Alyssa Jacon of North Greenbush Ambulance; Assistant Chief Daniel Sheehan, Assistant Chief Gregory Croll, Firefighter/Past Chief Michael Lashmet, Firefighter Bill Stewart, Firefighter Andrew Morabito of the Defreestville Fire Department; Kimberly Lashmet-Roberson and AMCH Dr. Warren Hayashi.

The point was made that as the number of volunteer firefighters are decreasing, the need for more volunteers is crucial for more outcomes like this. Volunteers are trained in first aid and CPR, and in both of these cases, their work with the work of the other police and EMS personnel on scene helped provide two individuals with a second chance at living.

Following the ceremony, two new members of the North Greenbush Police Department were sworn in to service.

Bishop Dr. Norman Macklin was sworn in as a new Chaplain and Officer Michael Paterno was sworn in as a new police officer.