Greenwich Residents Honored For Saving Fellow Parent's Life

A quartet of Greenwich parents who sprang into action when a fellow parent collapsed at a workshop last fall, were honored Friday for saving the woman's life.

"She collapsed, we walked over to assess her and began resusciatative efforts,"  Dr. Setul Pardanani explained after she and fellow parents Dr. Leora Horwitz, Caitriona Perna, who's a Greenwich Hospital registered nurse, and her husband Anthony Perna, were recognized by Greenwich Public Schools and Greenwich Emergency Medical Service (GEMS) officials. The ceremony was held in school district offices Friday afternoon.

The quartet were attending an Oct. 29 parent workshop about Common Core Standards at Hamilton Avenue School when an unidentified woman collapsed. The four determined the woman was in cardiac arrest. Other parents called 911, someone went to get the automated external defibrillator (AED) while the four began resuscitation efforts.

The group used the AED and by the time police and a GEMS crew arrived, the woman was regaining consciousness. She has since recovered and is now back home with her family in Glenville, school officials said.

"This is an afternoon of celebration," said School Superintendent William McKersie. "There's a politician who famously said, 'It takes a village.' That evening the village stepped up. We're here to thank them and celebrate them."

He added, "Saving the life of one of your fellow parents, you cannot put into words, the impact you've had."

GEMS Executive Director Charlee Tufts said the incident is an example of GEMS impact on the community through its CPR and AED training classes. "There are 40 public buildings equipped with AEDS. It warms our hearts that they can be used ... the patient had a heartbeat by the time emergency crews got there," Tufts explained.

Tufts said Greenwich is a designated 'Heart Safe Community.' "We have a 35 to 40 percent save rate for cardiac patients. The average in the United States is eight to 16 percent," Tufts said.

First Selectman Peter Tesei lauded the quartet's efforts. "We are thankful to each and every one of you. In the chain of life, this is the best practice ....This will go down as a shining moment of what's great about Greenwich," Tesei said.

Pardanani, who's an obstetrician at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, and Horwitz, who's a primary care physician at Yale New Haven Hospital, both stressed that anyone could have done what they did. "You see something and you just act," she said.

"The machine tells you what to do," Pardanani said. Once the AED is hooked up to the patient, "it directs you through the process — it tells you whether an electrical shock is needed and it gives it to the patient. It tells you if CPR is needed," Horwitz explained.

"The point is that anybody can do this," she added.