{"id":13945,"date":"2016-05-02T14:16:07","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T14:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=13945"},"modified":"2016-05-02T14:18:34","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T14:18:34","slug":"naples-firefighter-once-again-saves-another-mans-life-on-a-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=13945","title":{"rendered":"Naples firefighter once again saves another man’s life on a plane"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Watch the report HERE\u203a\u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

(Naples Daily News<\/a>) \u2013 Austin Bleiweiss was in a deep sleep during the second hour of a flight back from Puerto Rico last Tuesday when he heard the flight attendant\u2019s scream. The scream for help jolted him awake.<\/p>\n

A man on the plane was slumped over in his seat, his bronze skin now a shade of ashen gray. A woman sitting in the row of seats across from him heard a small moan and saw the man, who was sitting alone in his row, go limp. One of the flight attendants yelled to the rest of the passengers, asking for anyone with a medical background.<\/p>\n

Bleiweiss, a firefighter and paramedic in the Naples Fire-Rescue Department, stood out of his aisle seat several rows back and came forward. He saw a middle-aged man wearing a long-sleeved collared shirt lying face up across the row\u2019s three seats. He didn\u2019t see any rise or fall in the man\u2019s chest. He didn\u2019t feel a pulse.<\/p>\n

Bleiweiss\u2019 training kicked in. He positioned himself at the man\u2019s head and directed another helper to the man\u2019s feet. Bleiweiss started chest compressions and called for an oxygen mask and the plane\u2019s automatic defibrillator.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, when you have somebody that\u2019s down and has cardiac arrest real quick, you\u2019re likelihood of getting them back are very good if CPR, oxygen and [defibrillator] are used,\u201d Bleiweiss said. \u201cAt that point, I\u2019m thinking, \u2018We can save this guy, if we can get our stuff together and get it done.'\u201d<\/p>\n

Bleiweiss, 31, knew what to do, in part, because he\u2019s a nine-year veteran of the Naples fire department. But he also had been in a similar situation before.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, during a flight to Las Vegas with his dad, Bleiweiss and a friend from the Bonita Springs fire department helped revive a man who lost consciousness. In that flight, the man was sitting in the seat directly in front of Bleiweiss, and Bleiweiss helped carry him into the aisle before starting chest compressions.<\/p>\n

When he heard a call for help again last week, Bleiweiss thought he was dreaming, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can\u2019t be happening two times in my life,\u201d he thought.<\/p>\n

He knew from his previous experience that medical kits on airplanes have an oxygen mask different from the oxygen cups that drop from the ceiling during cabin destabilization. The mask is better because it pumps oxygen to the person, and in this case, the person wasn\u2019t breathing.<\/p>\n