CPR in Action
How a Quick-Thinking City of Arlington Employee Saved a Life
On Saturday, June 27, 2009, at approximately 3:15 pm, John D.
Lukin III, a 62 -year-old construction estimator from Mission Viejo,
California, went into cardiac arrest at the City of Arlington Elzie
Odom Recreation Center. Lukin and his wife of 36 years had driven to
Texas to visit family members , and on Saturday were at the
recreation center to watch their nephew play indoor soccer.
Almost immediately he lost consciousness and fell to the ground,
striking his head on the floor. Even more life threatening was that
his heart had stopped beating and he was no longer breathing.
Lukin's wife immediately called for help! Matt Miller, a City of
Arlington concession worker, heard the calls for help and notified
Ernie Smith, the Recreation Center Facility Manager, a 9-year City
of Arlington employee and a 10-year CPR practitioner and instructor.
Smith rushed to Lukin and immediately determined that he was not
breathing and did not have a pulse. She called for an AED (Automatic
External Defibrillator), which the City of Arlington had placed in
the building as part of its Public Access Defibrillator program.
While awaiting its arrival, Smith began CPR.
On July 9, 2009, Chief Paulsgrove and several members of the fire
department were on hand as Mayor Cluck presented Ernie with a plaque
recognizing her actions. By performing CPR and use of a Public
Access Defibrillator, she made it possible for Mr. John Lukin to
survive a cardiac arrest.
During late 2005, Mayor Robert
Cluck met with representatives of the American Heart Association (AHA),
Arlington Fire Department, and the
UTA School of Nursing to discuss a new
CPR initiative.
The City of Arlington has been
chosen as the premier city for this new program which aims to improve
cardiac arrest survival by teaching 10% of the city’s population how to
perform CPR. This city initiative, CPaRlington, utilizes a self-directed
training method for teaching and learning the lifesaving skills of CPR.
Developed by AHA, in
collaboration with Laerdal Medical Corporation, this innovative
hands-on approach, called CPR Anytime™, includes
a manikin, book and DVD. It is designed to be shared with friends and
family members so that each kit can be used to train several people.
Visit the
CPR Anytime website
or contact Denise Dyer at 1-888-297-7772, Ext. 4232 to purchase kits.
For orders of 500 or more please call Damon Benton at 1-800-648-1851,
Ext. 2312.
For additional information contact the Arlington Fire Department at
817-459-5500 or by email at
CPaRlington.
