Three members of the Arthrex Manufacturing Inc. East (AMIE) Security team were recently presented Life Saving awards in recognition of the roles they played in responding to a medical emergency.
“It started out as a normal day,” said Senior Security Officer Dan Rategan, who was in the patrol vehicle that morning, monitoring the parking lot and the exteriors of the AMIE buildings.
Lead Security Officer Mike Daily was in the Security office and Senior Security Officer Roy Porter was manning the front desk when an employee came to the lobby, saying help was needed in the cafeteria.
“In the police world, there’s typically a delay between receiving a call and arriving on the scene, but we were less than a minute away,” said Roy, who worked in law enforcement for 15 years before coming to Arthrex.
Mike grabbed the medical bag and the AED (automated external defibrillator), and he and Roy took off for the main cafeteria, arriving to find Packaging Lean Operations Technician Antonio DelSordo on the floor, unresponsive and not breathing.
“I knew immediately what we were getting involved in,” said Mike, who witnessed his father-in-law go into cardiac arrest about eight years earlier – the first time Mike saved someone’s life with the use of CPR.
“We cleared people away from the scene,” Roy said, “and Mike started the initial assessment while I got the AED ready.”
During Mike’s assessment, he was unable to detect a pulse and, because Antonio’s airways were blocked and unable to be cleared, Mike made the call to move forward with compression-only CPR.
“I started performing chest compressions, and then once we had the AED in place, it basically took over – giving verbal commands and using tones to ensure the right compression rhythm and pressure,” Mike said. “The AED administered one shock, reassessed, and then the verbal commands told us to continue performing compressions.”
The timestamped report, compiled with the aid of camera footage from the Security Operations Center (SOC), showed one shock administered four minutes after Mike and Roy were made aware of Antonio collapsing.
“Defibrillation rarely happens that fast outside of a hospital setting,” said Arthrex Medical Center (AMC) Medical Director Paul Hobaica, MD. “And, the earlier the defibrillation, the better the outcomes. The security officers getting to Antonio as fast as they did was key.”
As instructed by the AED, Roy and Mike continued doing chest compressions, switching places several times before Dan arrived on the scene and joined the rotation.
“Performing chest compressions correctly is very tiring,” Mike explained. “If the AED tells you you’re not pressing hard enough, that’s when you know you’re tiring out and it’s time for someone else to take over for a bit. That’s why our training is so important – we were able to trade places and automatically be in lockstep.”
The three security officers continued chest compressions until paramedics arrived on the scene and transported Antonio to the hospital.
“I remember going into work that morning,” Antonio said. “I got there about 4:30 [a.m.] to get everything ready for the Packaging team, which starts at 5 [a.m.]. I remember going on break with some of my team, getting a cup of coffee, and then I woke up and I was in the hospital.”
Antonio spent 14 days in the hospital followed by multiple months recovering at home.
“I was in contact with a handful of Arthrex employees through all of this,” he said, “and it was one of my co-workers who’d gone on break with me that morning who first told me about the security officers who responded when I went down.”
“Mike took charge,” said Corporate Security Supervisor Tony Shover. “He’s the Lead Officer here, and he handled the situation. He directed everyone as needed and made sure everyone we were in contact with – including the EMTs – knew where to go.”
Tony credits not only his team’s response, but also Arthrex’s focus on employee safety – particularly its hiring and training practices – for Antonio’s successful outcome.
“The majority of Arthrex’s Security team has previous work experience with either law enforcement, security or working in the medical field,” Tony said. “And there’s a level of training required for security officers in the state of Florida, but at Arthrex, we ensure our team’s training is above and beyond that.”
In the interest of continuing the quality CPR training Arthrex’s Security team receives – and extending that training to employees in other departments – Dan, is now a certified CPR instructor.
“Having these classes available here at Arthrex is just another employee benefit,” he said.
Dan, who worked in EMS as a first responder for nearly 30 years before joining Arthrex, also acknowledged the importance of having proper medical equipment strategically placed throughout the plant.
“This was the first time one of our Arthrex defibrillators had been used,” said Dr. Hobaica, who played a pivotal role in getting AEDs placed on every floor in every U.S. Arthrex building and in the security vehicles – golf carts and patrol cars alike. “We erred on the side of more, not less, because we want to make sure they are easy to access.”
Thanks to the readily available AED and Mike, Roy and Dan’s quick response, Antonio is now back to work, resuming his 11th year of Helping Surgeons Treat Their Patients Better®.
“Of course, I want to say thank you to the security officers who responded to the cafeteria that morning,” said Antonio, “But I also want to thank Arthrex for seeing the value in having defibrillators in our buildings and ensuring there are trained individuals who know how to use them. I can say, wholeheartedly, that no company takes care of its employees like Arthrex does.”