CPR Survivor: 'I'm Here and It's Good'

Lacey EMS responds to CPR calls approximately once a month, all of which typically end up pronouncements but not on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

A group of EMS members were recently honored at the annual installation dinner for saving Alfred Decker’s life.

Decker, an employee of Oyster Creek Generating Station, was reaching for a control panel when he suddenly collapsed at 7:30 a.m.

The EMS squad was paged, but Steve Serpe, also an employee for the Forked River power plant and a member, was on the second floor of the building.

As he walked up to the control room, there was no sense of urgency in the page, he said. After another page, he knew there was an emergency.

“I walked in and I saw Al on the floor,” Serpe said. “He already was starting to turn blue.”

Decker had no pulse, he said.

“When you go to work, you go to work with a work mindset,” Serpe said. “But when I saw Al on the floor, my first aid brain turned on.”

Serpe grabbed the first aid kit and the defibrillator, gave Decker a shock and administered CPR.

“All I remember is someone yelling,” Decker said. He arrived at Community Medical Center in Toms River at 10 a.m. so he was “out of it” for more than two hours, he said (although he was able to recite his zip code when asked).

Decker had experienced cardiac arrest, he said. A similar incident occurred in 2000. He was then taken to the University of Pennsylvania for tests but nothing was found.

Other Oyster Creek employees including Kevin Zadroga and Earl Lautenschlager, who are EMT qualified, and Gary Test, who has experience in confined space rescue, also assisted.

“These guys did a great job,” Decker said.

Lacey EMS responded with Annie Humphrey, Dee Ann Keene and Mark Dudeck.

“Thanks to the quick response, it may not have been a good ending,” Decker said. “And the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) worked, which was a plus, plus.”

Although CPR incidents are infrequent, it was Humphrey’s first call on the job, she said. She described the experience as crazy, dramatic and intense. Lacey EMS President John Hode added that it was inspirational, since Decker survived.

Brain death occurs in CPR patients after six minutes, Hode said. But AEDs have become so widely available, including at Oyster Creek, that they can be employed rapidly. An AED, which is a portable electronic device that guides the everyday person step by step through the defibrillation, can be the difference between life and death.

Decker was revived within four minutes, Serpe said.

The rescue team and Decker were honored at the Feb. 4 dinner.

“We honored them for the great work they did,” Hode said, adding that Decker was honored for surviving.

Decker now has an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator inside him, he said. The gadget will shock him if he goes into cardiac arrest again.

“I’m vertical. It’s a good thing,” Decker said. “I’m here and it’s good.”