Police in Washington State raced to rescue an elderly man who was having a heart attack in a car, jumping into action and performing CPR.
A 911 call alerted police to a man who appeared to be having a heart attack behind the wheel. The problem was, neither he or his 91-year-old mother knew exactly where they were.
Through enhanced 911, dispatchers were able to narrow the call down to a certain area, where they found 91-year-old Betty Toner trying to remain calm while her son, Ed Toner, was losing his ability to breathe.
“Well, there was not a lot that I could do at that time. I was just trying to remain calm,” Toner said.
“He looked very panicked and though his voice wouldn’t work he kind of mouthed the words, ‘help.’ He seized up and then he was gone,” said Officer Jake Berry of the Tukwila Police Department.
The dashcam continued to roll as the two officers pulled out the automatic defibrillator, which tells them step by step what to do.
Officer David Pollett said that every patrol unit in their department has an automatic defibrillator.
“And It tells us, ‘Stand back… don’t touch the patient.’ You stand back, let it do its thing and it’ll either do a shock or it will tell you to start CPR,” he said.
One officer started chest compressions until paramedics arrived.
Toner was transported to a local hospital where he stayed for four days.
“That is the the last thing that I remember is just trying to catch my breath… and I couldn’t do it,” Toner said.