PARK CITY, Utah -- One of four automatic emergency defibrillators (AEDs) installed last summer in Park City may have already saved a man's life, and it happened during the Sundance Film Festival.
Trevor Christensen was standing 30 feet away when a man collapsed on a sidewalk in the city.
"I ran over there and then let him know I used to be paramedic," Christensen said.
As Christensen began doing chest compressions on the victim, other bystanders also took action. One called 911 and another ran to find an AED. As it turns out, the life-saving device happened to have been installed right across the street.
"The AED being right there across the street at the time he went down was just amazing," Christensen said.
Christensen used the AED to deliver a shock, then continued with chest compressions. About 20 seconds later, he said, the victim responded.
"He actually looked at me and extended his hand up and said 'Thank you,' which was wild," Christensen recalled.
Sgt. Jay Randall, Park City Police Department, credits Christensen and the user-friendly AEDs with saving the man's life.
"It was a great, great testament not only to the technology, but the people that have the confidence in the technology to go find it and use it," Randall said.
Christensen stressed that AED devices are not just for people with medical emergency training.
"They make them easy to operate. All you have to do is literally just unzip it or open it up and it tells you what to do," Christensen said.
Park City police say heart attack calls are fairly common in the city, as the high altitude exacerbates heart and breathing problems.
