AUSTIN, Texas — An off-duty dispatcher is being hailed a hero after performing CPR on a cardiac arrest patient.
Acadian paramedic Tim Keirn, a dispatcher in the Austin Communications Center, saw a person collapsed on the shoulder of a highway and stopped to help the person who was in cardiac arrest, according to Acadian Texas’ Facebook page.
Keirn began CPR and continued to assist with patient care when the Austin Fire Department arrived.
The patient was placed on a cardiac monitor and defibrillated, resulting in a quick return of spontaneous circulation after one shock. The patient was transported in critical, yet improving, condition.
“On behalf of myself and the Austin-Travis County EMS Department, I would like commend paramedic Tim Keirn for his actions during the course of this call and his overall dedication to the profession of pre-hospital emergency medicine,” Bryan Fitzpatrick, district commander for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, said. “His willingness to stop and care for this patient on his own time on the side of a very busy highway reflects the very best qualities that we as prehospital emergency responders strive for.”