AED Used to Revive Man at Inwood Center

The details are not clear, but what is known is this: a man in distress at Provena Saint Joseph Inwood Athletic Center was revived.

"Everything went the way we wanted it to, thankfully," Brad Staab, Joliet Park District Superintendent of Communications said of the Jan. 21 incident. "He collapsed and staff and the firefighter were able to revive him."

The Joliet firefighter, Joel Mauser, was not on duty at the time of the incident.

"He passed out on our fitness floor and was revived with an AED," Staab said.

An AED, or Automatic External Defibrillator, is a portable electronic device that checks for heart rhythms. It then uses an electric current to "jump start" the heart in an attempt to return it to a normal rhythm.

Although some media outlets are reporting the age of the man who passed out, Staab said he could not confirm and age and he did not know the identity of the man. What he did know was that the man was a member at the athletic center.

The facility has three such machines - one on the fitness floor, one near the pool and one near the ice rink.

"We worked with the (Joliet) Fire Department when this place was built; we went off all of the codes of where to place (the AEDs)," Staab said.

All the staff in the facility are trained on how to use the machines.

"This is the first time we have had to use one," Staab said.

Provena Saint Joseph Inwood Athletic Center was built in 2006.

The man who passed out was taken to Provena Saint Joseph Hospital. Since his identity was not known, a condition was not available.

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