Dunwoody Police Officer Saves Life Using Defibrillator

A Dunwoody police officer saved a 51-year-old’s life last week, with the help of the city’s new portable defibrillators.

Officer Dale Laskowski reported to a call of a person down on Mile Post Drive around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3.

When Laskowski arrived, he found the victim unresponsive and not breathing, according to the Dunwoody Police Department.

Laskowski applied the pads of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) – which were purchased for each officer in the department through local donations –  to the victim and began testing the patient’s signs, police said.

The machine showed no pulse on the victim and that no shock was necessary, so officer began to perform CPR on the victim until the DeKalb County Fire Department arrived.

The victim was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital and made a full recovery, police said.

The defibrillators were gifted to the city through the “Heart of Dunwoody” program, which raised money to put the machines into the hands of each of the city’s police officers. The program was spearheaded by Dunwoody residents Bob and Kathy Lundsten, who helped raise $75,000 for the effort through donations from dozens of individuals and organizations in the area. The devices were given to the city in the fall of 2009.

Each officer has been trained on the machines, as well as in CPR, the department said.

Lundsten shared the good news with the Dunwoody Homeowners Association Sunday night.

“The city of Dunwoody had its first AED save,” Lundsten said, to plenty of applause.

Lundsten noted that the DHA gave  $7,500 of the funds for the program.