Thanks to their training and quick action, three members of the Cassopolis Police Department were able to save the life of Roosevelt Thomas prior to a village council meeting Jan. 9.

Thomas suffered a cardiac arrest in the council chambers and was unresponsive when Cassopolis Police Chief Brian La Valle, officer Don Obermesik and Kyle Hart responded to the medical emergency.

As luck would have it that evening, officers Obermesik and Hart were at the station during a shift change, which meant that one of the department’s automated external defibrillators was in the car parked outside.

As soon as Thomas hit the floor, Hart, La Valle and Obermesik responded.

“We heard something outside (my office) and it sounded like some kids yelling,” La Valle said. “Then our village clerk (Tonia Betty) was pounding on our door saying Mr. Thomas had had a stroke.”

Obermesik said when he reached Thomas, he was on the floor and his eyes were fixed.

“I knew it was not a stroke,” he said. “I checked the carotid (artery). I double-checked the carotid because you want to make sure before you start cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He was in full arrest.”

Obermesik started compressions immediately and called for the AED.

“I completed two cycles of compressions and then we got the AED up there and we got the paddles on him,” Obermesik said. “We were able to let it assess and it assessed for a shock. We cleared away and it shocked. We went through another cycle of compressions and checked for the pulse. I felt one beat, so I waited for a second and shut off the AED so it would not distract me and then I felt two beats and it started regular.”

Obermesik said he could see Thomas’ eyes change from fixed to returning to normal.

“I have done a lot of these,” he said. “I have seen what the eyes look like dead and what they look like alive. We just waited and he started moving and we could see he was breathing.”

Obermesik said his 26 years of training and performing CPR and using the AED on others prepared him for the moment.

La Valle said that was the first time he had responded to a medical emergency where they were able to bring the person back to life.

He was extremely pleased with the way everyone handled the situation.

“The timing could not have been better because we had three first responders in the next office over,” he said. “When we went there and started working on Mr. Thomas, luckily a patrol car was downstairs because it was shift change. It was available to us and not out somewhere else on a call.

“We were able to get down there and bring the AED back up in less than a minute. So when the ambulance got there five to eight minutes later, that is a huge amount of time obviously if somebody is having a cardiac arrest. So the timeliness was good. It worked out very well.”

Cassopolis Village Manager Emilie Sarratore, who witnessed Thomas going into arrest, was also pleased with the response of everyone involved.

“I cannot say enough about how professional and amazing our officers were,” she said. “They responded so quickly and calmly. It just makes you appreciate their job even more when you realize this is what they are required to deal with all the time at any given moment. They did a fantastic job.”

The efforts of all three officers will be recognized at the next meeting of the Cassopolis Village Council, which authorized the purchase of an AED to be kept in the Cassopolis Municipal Building at its workshop Monday night.

Thomas, who received a pacemaker following his cardiac arrest, was expected to be present at the next meeting Feb. 13, however, it was learned Monday night that he had returned to the hospital.