By Benning W. De La Mater
The Berkshire Eagle
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Sept. 18, 2006, began as a typical day for John Carrington.
The chief marketing officer for GE Plastics was conducting a conference call with other GE executives across the globe when something in his field of vision changed.
“It was just like the movies,” he said. “My vision just closed up. It just faded to black.”
Carrington’s heart had stopped. He passed out on the floor of the boardroom.
Within “180 seconds,” two co-workers trained in medical response, Thomas Lis and Thomas Stanley, were at his side, trading off between cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an automated external defibrillator (AED).
Thirteen minutes later, EMTs and paramedics were on the scene, transporting him to Berkshire Medical Center.
On Friday night, Carrington, 41, thanked all the first responders who helped save his life that day. Carrington was one of the speakers at the Emergency Medical Services of Berkshire County’s annual awards dinner.
“You take time away from your families and friends,” Carrington said, “and you save lives. You save lives every single day. A day doesn’t go by when I look at my family and think what could have been. Thank you for your commitment.”
In the wake of his heart attack, which doctors told him was caused by a virus, Carrington has lobbied to increase the presence of AEDs in company buildings.
There are now seven in the local offices and more than 150 companywide. Carrington also said CPR training is up 400 percent.
EMTs from County Ambulance, the Pittsfield Fire Department and Vance security also were honored Friday night.
EMS president Brian Andrews said that saving a life depends on “the chain of survival,” the EMTs, the paramedics, the fire and police personnel and the hospital staff.
“It is a vital service that is often overlooked,” he said.
Dr. Mark Pettus, a physician from BMC, said first responders are “the unsung heroes of the health care system.”
“You enter the lives of total strangers, in total chaos, and save lives,” he said.
EMS, which represents more than 600 first responders and medical professionals in Berkshire County, also gave out awards to Richard Olsted of Dalton Ambulance, EMT of the Year; Shawn Godfrey of Village Ambulance, Paramedic of the Year; Joseph Amuso of BMC, Nurse of the Year; and Dr. Ronald Hayden of BMC, Physician of the Year.