By Leila Merrill
FireRescue1/EMS1
CINCINNATI — Good Samaritans treated a firefighter-paramedic with the Anderson Township Fire Department who fell off a StairMaster at a local gym, WXIX reported Thursday.
“I was there for my normal workout,” Curtis Yuskewich said. “I did some weightlifting, and I went on to the StairMaster, and before I knew it I blacked out.”
He was in cardiac arrest.
“I fell off the stair master, and they rushed over. My face was purple, and they started doing compressions,” Yuskewich explained.
One of the people who responded was Lilli Hastings, who works in the intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
“We did CPR until we got an AED, which we could put on him, and then we turned it on to analyze it, which told us to go ahead and shock him, which meant he was in a lethal rhythm,” Hastings said. “I’m thankful I was there. I’m thankful the other people who helped were there. It could be very intimidating and scary.”
Anderson Township EMS Batallion Chief Chris Kasperczyk said “it’s important to have the community react and recognize that they need to intervene and step up and perform CPR, and if there is an AED, to use it.”
Yuskewich has not returned to work but reportedly did not sustain damage to his heart.