BCC Rescue Squad Credits Automatic
Defibrillator with Saving Woman
on Chevy Chase Street

Contact: Asst. Chief Peter Morris
Public Information Officer, BCCRS
Pager (301) 973-7363

The dramatic rescue scene occurred shortly before 4:00 P.M. on Sunday afternoon, November 16, 1997. An 86 year old Germantown woman was walking to her car with family members after attending church services at the Chevy Chase United Methodist Church on Connecticut Avenue. The woman started complaining of chest pains and sat down on the front steps of a nearby house. Neighbors immediately called 911. This set in motion a multi-unit response, including an off-duty volunteer firefighter/rescuer from Kensington, a volunteer BCC Rescue Squad Chief, volunteer BCC Rescue Squad ambulance crew, the crew of the Chevy Chase Fire Department, and a paramedic unit from Silver Spring.

Alex Eastman, a volunteer firefighter/rescuer with the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department, was driving down Connecticut Avenue in his personal vehicle when the call was dispatched. Eastman heard the location on his fire/rescue pager and immediately turned onto Shepherd St. Firefighter/Rescuer Eastman provided aid to the stricken woman until an Assistant Chief with the BCC Rescue Squad arrived with a full set of medical equipment.

The two volunteer firefighter/rescuers started CPR on the woman who went into full cardiac arrest while they were helping her. An ambulance crew from BCC Rescue Squad arrived a minute later. Volunteer firefighter/rescuers Tom Ryan and Mary Peckham used a special Automatic External Defibrillator, commonly referred to as an AED, to shock the woman's heart, which had stopped beating. The AED uses advanced technology to automatically determine if an electrical shock is needed. The device then prompts the rescuers to deliver a shock and check for a pulse. The crew delivered one shock as instructed and the woman's heart started again.

The crew from the Chevy Chase Fire Department responded from another medical emergency in Chevy Chase. Two Chevy Chase firefighters jumped in the back of the BCCRS ambulance to assist on the way to the hospital. A paramedic crew from Silver Spring joined up with the ambulance crew on the way to the hospital.

The woman arrived at the Suburban Hospital Emergency room just 18 minutes after the first 911 call was placed. She was beginning to regain consciousness and starting to talk.

"There is no doubt that the fast response of off-duty volunteer firefighter Alex Eastman and the quick use of the AED saved a life in this situation," said Assistant Chief Peter Morris of the BCC Rescue Squad. "There was a great response from everybody, including the residents of Chevy Chase-Section 3 who called 911 immediately," he added.

The "Automatic" External Defibrillator (AED) is carried on every BCCRS ambulance and on the engine company of the Chevy Chase Fire Department.

Every year the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad responds to over 10,000 emergency calls in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Glen Echo, Cabin John, and upper Northwest DC. The Rescue Squad consists of 120 volunteer firefighter/rescuers and a daytime staff of ten members (including two Montgomery County DFRS paramedics), responding to emergencies in the community 24 hours a day. BCC Rescue Squad does not accept any direct tax support from Montgomery County. Instead, the Rescue Squad relies on donations from the community in order to provide the most advanced fire and rescue services available. The "AED" represents one of those special services. BCC Rescue Squad was one of the first departments in the Washington metropolitan area to place an AED on every ambulance.

For further information, please contact Assistant Chief Peter Morris at (301) 652-0077.