Firefighters, gym employees save heart attack victim

Firefighters and two 24 Hour Fitness employees saved the life of a 67-year-old man who went into cardiac arrest at the gym, officials said Friday.

At about 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Costa Mesa firefighters received a call that a man had gone into cardiac arrest while working out at 24 Hour Fitness at The Triangle, according to Costa Mesa Fire Department Battalion Chief Fred Seguin.

Another gym member notified employees that the man was down in the cardio area, said Josh Graves, a fitness manager at the club.

When firefighters arrived, two employees at the gym had already started CPR and readied an automatic external defibrillator, giving the man one shock, Seguin said.

“It was cool to work as a team to save that man’s life,” Graves said.

CPR was again performed while firefighters prepared their machine. After another shock, the man started breathing again and had a pulse, according to Seguin.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am that the member pulled through,” Graves said.

Firefighters took the man to an area hospital.

“Everything was textbook — as it should go,” Seguin said. “What these gentleman did was the saving grace of this 67-year-old gentleman.”

— Lauren Williams

Twitter: @lawilliams30