By EMS1 Staff
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A fire chief is on the road to recovery after being revived with an improved, “high performance” CPR method, according to officials.
ABC News 4 reported that Couchton Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Greg Bailey and his wife were completing the Charleston 9/11 walk in full firefighter gear when Chief Bailey suffered a heart attack.
Firefighters and EMTs participating in the event rushed to help revive Chief Bailey.
“To walk up and see a fireman on the ground in his bunker pants and his shirt open doing chest compressions, that’s one of the toughest things you’re ever going to experience and see,” the walk’s executive director Tian Griffith said.
Griffith said Bailey’s life was saved by an improved version of CPR.
“It’s the same CPR that you know and love, but it’s high performance. It allows us to give constant compressions and profuse the brain and save more people. He’s a direct result of that,” Griffith said.
Chief Bailey’s wife, Marty, said he is on the road to recovery.
“He’s started with baby steps and started going into big boy steps, and he’s ready to run now,” she said. “He’s got a little more recovery to do, but he’s ready to get up and get life going again.”
Chief Bailey is still adamant about walking with his fellow firefighters in the 2018 event.