A fast-acting Santa Clarita Valley resident saved a man’s life Friday, after quick thinking and a call to the Fire Department led to an immediate emergency response.
A middle-aged man walking down Soledad Canyon Road collapsed during a heart attack Friday afternoon. A passer-by called in to the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Canyon Country branch (Station #107), or otherwise, the unidentified man might have not made it, Fire Department officials said.
The citizen called in, noticing the victim laid out on the damp sidewalk in the drizzling rain, and started giving the cardiac arrest victim chest compressions per the Fire Department’s request.
Because the citizen called in right away, the Fire Department and other local law enforcement were able to arrive on-scene in less than four minutes — near the intersection of Soldedad Canyon Road and Crossglade in Canyon Country. This quick call-and-response likely saved the victim’s life, fire officials said.
Paramedics and local Fire Department officials surrounded the victim lying on the sidewalk still in cardiac arrest.
They proceeded to use a defibrillator — shocking the victim multiple times — then opened his airway with a breathing tube. After another around of CPR, the victim showed signs of blood pressure, a pulse and was able to breathe on his own, Fire Department officials said.
The scene caused heavy traffic delays eastbound on Soledad Canyon Road as over five local law enforcement vehicles blocked lanes.
The victim was transferred to Providence Holy Cross Hospital in the San Fernando Valley.