David Lennon from Tennessee was watching the Bulls game with his family when he experienced chest pains.
"He seemed to be alert up until he was asked to stand up and make it to the stretcher on his own," says Durham Bulls Athletic Park EMT Vanessa Kallem. "He stood up, took one step and passed out."
Two doctors in the crowd came down to help. Coincidentally, the other paramedic on duty had just left to get one of two semi-automaticdefibrillatorsat the ballpark. It was put to use right away.
"Everyone had to step back and we defibrillated him once and continued defibrillating out to the ambulance," Kallem says. "By the time he got out there, he was actually alert and talking."
Ballpark Security Director Eddie Sarvis saw firsthand what defibrillators can do.
"I heard from the hospital that the doctor there on duty said that if had it occurred anywhere else, he would not have survived," Sarvis says. "Had it happened in his home, he would not have survived."
Lennon had three arteries that were 95 percent blocked. He is in fair condition at Duke Hospital.
State lawmakers believe defibrillators are so important that they are voting on a law right now that wouldprotect properly trained people from liabilitywhen using one.
The Senate has its final vote on the proposal Thursday. If approved, the bill will go to the House.
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