Two Saved with Same AED Plus at Fitness Club

November 29, 2012 – By coincidence, two men working out at the 24-Hour Fitness in Bellevue, Washington, collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest the same week—and both men can attribute their survival to the quick thinking of the gym staff and the same AED Plus^® automated external defibrillator owned by the gym. Dave Mann, 79, collapsed on Oct. 31, just as he was about to start a game of racquetball with some pals. The next day, Steve Woody, 66, collapsed during a Zumba class. In both instances, the gym staff knew exactly what to do in providing CPR and using the AED Plus. A cardiac surgeon who was working out nearby when Woody collapsed helped provide CPR and administer three shocks from the AED Plus. Two days later he performed quadruple bypass surgery on Woody.

Dave Mann (in white hat) and Steve Woody meet Bellevue Fire Department medics and 24-Hour Fitness employees who helped rescue them after each collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest just one day apart at the gym. Credit: Venice Buhain

Mann, a former Seattle Rainiers baseball player and 40-year member of the gym, says he’s going to ease back into fitness and start with the leg machines. Woody, who calls himself the luckiest man alive, plans to resume Zumba next Monday. "We exercise seven hours a week. We mountain bike, we ski. I thought I was in phenomenal shape," Woody said.