Defibrillator may have helped save man's life

Jennifer Trombly walked out of the grocery store around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and saw a scene like no other.

A 73-year-old man was on the ground. A Sweetbay Supermarket employee yelled for someone to get a manager.

Trombly called 911. She asked three men who were helping the victim if he was breathing or had a pulse. They said, "No." She told the men to give the man two breaths to give him some oxygen.

The 33-year-old St. Petersburg resident then went to her car to get a portable automated external defibrillator - also known as a portable AED - that she carries with her for her 9-year-old son, who has an irregular heartbeat.

As she tried to get the defibrillator out of a backpack, she instructed the men to give 30 chest compressions and continue mouth-to-mouth.

Another man lifted the victim's shirt. She put the tabs on his chest to analyze if a shock was needed. When the shock was advised, they told everyone to clear, and Trombly shocked him.

The men continued CPR and the victim, who had a name tag that identified him as Charlie, started to take irregular breaths. St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue then arrived at the scene at 6095 9th Ave. N.

The man was taken to St. Petersburg General Hospital in serious condition.

Although nervous, Trombly tried to remain focused and steady during the event. Once it was over, she began to tremble and cry.

"You don't expect to see something like that coming out of the grocery store," she said.

Trombly said she doesn't see herself as a hero; she said the other people who helped did more significant work.

"I don't feel like I did anything extra," she said. "I think the guys who did the CPR are the real heroes. They kept him going until I could give him the shock."

Trombly learned CPR nine years ago and learned to use a defibrillator two years ago after her son, Tristan, was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat when he was 5. She, her husband and her parents learned how to use the device.

They have never had to use it on Tristan, she said, but she used it last year at another emergency.

In this event, she doesn't see herself as a hero.

"I don't want to be a hero or anything, because I'm not," Trombly said. "This is what anybody would have done.

"I think I just happened to be at the right place at the right time to help this man. And hopefully it makes a difference for him."

Trombly, a third-grade teacher at Northwest Elementary in St. Petersburg, recommends that everyone learn how to do CPR and use a defibrillator.

"You never know when you are going to need it," she said.

She said she was moved by the support the man received.

"It is nice to know that people will still do good even if it's a complete stranger," Trombly said. "And that means a lot."