For wrestling coach Drew Black and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry major Jamal Ahmed ’09, last Friday afternoon began like any other. Black was in the Andersen Fitness Center preparing for his 1:10 Introduction to Strength Training class, while Ahmed was there for a workout along with Jason Kavett ’09 and Matthew Danzig ’09. Both Black and Ahmed are certified in CPR and emergency medical procedures, and that knowledge turned out to be life-saving when an alumnus in the fitness center, whose name is being withheld due to privacy concerns, went into cardiac arrest.

“I was on the rowing machine [when] on my right, I noticed someone standing next to the treadmill, looking at someone else who was lying face-down on the machine,” Ahmed, a certified EMT, wrote in an e-mail to The Argus. “I checked for level of responsiveness; he was not responding to verbal communication.”

There are two public-access automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the Freeman Athletic Center, both on the upper level—one to the right of the entrance to the fitness center, and one outside the hockey rink corridor, across from the Bacon Field House entrance (Connecticut building code does not require defibrillators; only golf courses with more than nine holes are required to have a defibrillator on the premises). When a defibrillator is removed from its cabinet, a local alarm is activated, but the alarm is not connected to Public Safety or outside emergency agencies. As Ahmed rushed outside the fitness center to retrieve the AED, Kavett made sure the emergency responders were notified.

“I ran to the phone, where someone else (an older man) connected with the 911 operator,” Kavett wrote in an e-mail to The Argus. “Soon thereafter, another person called—I think—directly to the fire department, since they are just a block away from Freeman. While Jamal and Coach Black worked on reviving the collapsed man, I waited by the downstairs door for the firefighters (they were expected to get there first) to arrive at Freeman, to make sure they reached the man as quickly as possible.”

911 calls made from a campus extension go directly to the Office of Public Safety. The incident was reported to Public Safety at 1:08 PM, according to the daily campus crime log. Public Safety declined to provide further details when contacted Friday night.

The defibrillator advised a shock, which Ahmed delivered before beginning CPR. Ahmed delivered 30 chest compressions, followed by two breaths from Black. After Ahmed performed another round of compressions, Black attempted to deliver two more breaths but was unable to open the patient’s jaw.

Jamal Ahmed ’09

“His mouth was cemented shut,” Black said. “Jamal was like, ‘Modified jaw thrust! Modified jaw thrust,’ a thing that you do especially with someone who has had a head injury—you don’t move the neck. As he’s trying to do that, I re-tilted the head and pulled the mouth open.”

“It’s so much different from a mannequin to a live person,” Black added. “It’s the first time I’ve ever done it on a person.”

After this, the defibrillator analyzed the patient and again advised another shock. Ahmed delivered the shock and resumed CPR in conjunction with Black.

“I had asked a bystander…to lift the patient’s legs to keep the blood going to his vital organs,” Ahmed wrote. “We continued CPR until the machine began analyzing again, and this time it advised no shock. We continued CPR and the patient began to breathe again, and even woke up and was slightly responsive/aware, but he could not say his own name.”

At this point, medical personnel arrived on the scene.

“The second time he came through, his hand came up,” Black said. “I grabbed his hand, and I just said, ‘Stay with us. You’re here, stay with us. You’re going to be fine.’ As I was doing that, the EMTs got there.”

“They inquired if I had delivered the shocks,” Ahmed said, “and I said, ‘Yes, twice,’ to which they responded, ‘Beautiful.’”

The patient was taken to Middlesex Hospital and later transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital. The Yale-New Haven communications office did not respond to an e-mail seeking an update on the patient’s condition.

Both the emergency responders and Kavett praised the actions of Ahmed and Black.

“[The EMTs] just said, ‘Hey, you guys did a great job,’” said Black, who said of Ahmed, “He’s going to make a hell of a doctor. He’s already saved his first patient.”

Added Kavett, “Jamal and Coach Black acted quickly and decisively—it was extremely impressive.”