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Sky Harbor rescue workers save woman’s life
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Three Phoenix Police officers and firefighters saved the life of a 68-year-old woman Thursday afternoon at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The rescuers used CPR and an automated external defibrillator to save Joann Vargo after she collapsed while waiting for a shuttle bus, Phoenix airport patrol officer Gordon Lange said. He said the woman was just yards from where other travelers were collecting their luggage and was found not breathing and unresponsive.
A skycap notified Lange of the incident.
Lange said that initially he assumed that someone just tripped and fell, but when he arrived he noticed it was much more.
“I saw a lot of people huddled around,” Lange said. “A lady told me she tried to get Vargo’s pulse but couldn’t.”
Lange also tried, unsuccessfully, to get a pulse before he radioed Sky Harbor Communications Center dispatchers and requested fire department response. He also asked the dispatchers to send another officer with a defibrillator.
Officer Larry Chambers, about to end his shift, retrieved the medical equipment from an upstairs office and sprinted to the scene.
“Once I heard it was urgent I didn’t waste any time,” Chambers said.
Officer Terri Klepper then arrived and began rescue breathing.
“Most medical calls are not that extreme,” Klepper said, “but my immediate reaction was to get there as quick as I could.”
Chambers and Lange applied the defibrillator to the patient. Paramedics from Phoenix Fire Station 19 arrived and activated the defibrillator a second time while police officers continued CPR.
“We worked as a team,” Chambers said. “You see what needs be done and you do it.”
Vargo’s pulse was restored and firefighters transported her to the hospital.
The incident marked the 17th rescue using a defibrillator at Sky Harbor since the devices were installed in the airport in December 2000.
Chambers also said police carry the devices on bicycles. He said the devices are simple to use, even for members of the public without formal training.
“Every public place should have them,” Klepper said.
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