PHOENIX- The response to an emergency became personal for a firefighter after a call came from home.
When he hit the dispatch computer to find the address, he was surprised by what he saw.
“It was the address I grew up in,” said Derek Dee, Phoenix Fire Station 20 firefighter and paramedic. “It was my parents house.” His mother made the call after she found his father, Tommy Dee 71-years-old, going into cardiac arrest.
“My bride saw me taking my last breath,” said Tommy.
The dispatcher told his mother to lie him on the floor but she couldn’t. She ran to the neighbor, Jason Ross for help.
When he arrived at his childhood home, he found his father getting C-P-R by Ross. Ross just finished learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
“She came over to get me and we went over and were able to get him onto to the ground and start c-p-r,” said Ross.
Derek swung into action and hit his father with the defibrillator three times and his father’s heart began to beat again. Derek says he tried to remain as professional as possible as he brought his father back to life.
“By the time they took him to the hospital and took him inside,” said Derek. “That’s when I stepped away it was an emotional time. ”
Tommy had cardiac surgery at the hospital and took four days to speak due to being sedated. Derek says his father did not know where he was but was able to recognize him.
Tommy says he remembers nothing about the incident but he does remember what he told his neighbor.
“Jason you were looking at me like you were trying to kiss me,” said Tommy.
More than a week after the incident the individuals involved were awarded by the Arizona Cardiac Arrest Survivors for their heroism. According to the American Heart Association, in 2016, there has been more than 350,000 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest incidents. The overall survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest incidents is 12 percent.
Tommy is one of those survivors and is expected to make a full recovery proving like his beloved Steelers. He’s Pittsburgh tough.