Shell Beach resident David Bushey

doesn't remember anything after suffering a major heart attack on Price Street near Bank of America in late May while cycling from his home to the Pismo Pier.

But he'll likely always remember his life was the first ever saved by a Pismo Beach police officer who used a portable automatic external defibrillator (AED) to shock his heart back to beating.

The Police Department's fleet of patrol cars have been equipped with portable AEDs since 2005, but until mid-May, the devices had never been successfully used to save a life.

“I don't know which corner it happened (on) ... The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital. ...” Bushey said Tuesday outside the City Council meeting where he thanked the officers who helped save his life and pinned ceremonial lifesaving award pins to their uniforms.

The officers also were presented with lifesaving awards by Police Chief Joe Cortez, during the packed council meeting.

“This really is a celebration of life today,” Cortez said.

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Pismo Police Officers Bill Garrett and Julee VanDusen found Bushey just before noon on May 18 lying in the roadway near the Y intersection of Price and Dolliver streets. The 43-year-old man was unconscious and bleeding from his forehead and mouth: He also had no vital signs.

An off-duty paramedic from Simi Valley was administering CPR to Bushey and others were directing traffic when the two officers arrived at the scene in separate cars.

“We thought he had been hit by a car because none of the witnesses saw him fall off the bike,” VanDusen said, adding the officers thought they might be dealing with a crime scene.

VanDusen used her radio to call for additional help and directed traffic at the busy intersection, while Garrett retrieved the AED from his car and administered a shock to Bushey's heart, the third time in his five years with the Police Department that he had used the lifesaving device.

“The first two didn't have a happy outcome,” Garrett said, adding the second time he employed his car's AED, the machine told him to not use it and continue CPR. “Julee and I both enjoy all aspects our of jobs, but to be able to save someone's life, who is OK, is great.”

Bushey didn't suffer any brain damage while his heart was stopped and has fully recovered from his heart attack. He credits being alive today to where his accident occurred and the use of an AED that resuscitated his heart.

“I just feel very fortunate that if something like this had to happen, it happened at the right time and right place for me to be here today,” he said. “If it happened out in the country, I might not be here today. (The AED) has a lot to do with me being here in good shape.”

Retired Pismo Police Cmdr. Scott Smith was instrumental in getting the department's patrol cars equipped with the AEDs, which he believes will help save more lives in the city in the future.

“Those officers did exactly what they were trained to do,” Smith said. “The most important thing about the AED in these emergency situations is the that seconds and minutes count. If you wait three, four, five minutes (to restart a heart), it's probably too late.”

Bushey's heart attack changed his life in that he's still alive, he said, and he now wants to become an advocate for automatic external defibrillators. He's also planning to learn CPR.

“Now I am moving forward with the goal of helping others,” Bushey said.

July 6, 2008