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Off-duty volunteers were working a particular busy weekend last Saturday when they responded to a car crash on eastbound Route 4 at Queen Anne Road, TVAC spokesman Larry J Robertson said Friday.
Moments later, a bus pulled up with an unconscious female passenger who suddenly stopped breathing, he said.
The crew administered a dose of Narcan, then used a manual bag-valve mask to help restore her breathing, Robertson said. She was later hospitalized.
The next day, several men were playing basketball in the Rodda Center gym when one of them collapsed.
He wasn't breathing and didn't have a heartbeat, Robertson said.
"The other players, including some off-duty doctors, immediately began CPR, and someone accessed a defibrillator in the hallway cabinet," he said.
Accessing the device "automatically transmitted a medical alarm via Teaneck’s fire alarm box system, while someone else called the Teaneck Police, who dispatched TVAC," Robertson said.
Minues later, an off-duty TVAC lieutenant arrived to find that the bystanders had successfully restored the man's pulse, breathing, and consciousness, he said.
The lieutenant "continued care, then helped the responding crew load this resuscitated patient into the ambulance for a trip to the hospital," Robertson said.
The Rodda Center incident "was a perfect example of community preparedness, with excellent response from the bystanders, with knowledge of CPR , the quick access to a defibrillator., the manual and automatic calls of a medical emergency, and the fast response of TPD, TFD, TVAC and hospital paramedics," he said.
CPR courses are available to the general public.
Those interested in taking them, or in becoming EMTs with the Teaneck squad can visit the corps at 855 Windsor Road, or contact Robertson: (201) 835-2224.
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