The Alpena City Fire Department is praising a group of citizens and emergency workers for saving an 80-year-old man's life.
Alpena resident Alan Smith was able to be taken to a local hospital after he was stabilized with help from the community.
“There were literally 15 people involved, between the lay rescuers, the three dispatchers that took the call and provided instruction over the phone, and then our six crew,” said Rob Edmonds, fire chief for the Alpena City Fire Department.
He said citizen rescuers recognized the emergency, began CPR and called 911. They used a public defibrillator, also known as an A-E-D.
Edmonds says his department offers CPR and other lifesaving training and is partnering with vendors to lower the cost of placing defibrillators in the community.
“In the last few years this is probably the fifth or sixth CPR save in the community, mostly due to more people being trained, but having public access defibrillators is another reason,” he said.
According to Edmonds, the department has worked to place 20 additional defibrillators throughout the county for access by the public.
