PA Teen Gives Ump CPR

On June 8, 2015, Mike Brodzinski, a 16-year old from Pennsylvania, was in the middle of a recreation baseball game when he realized that the game’s umpire had collapsed.  As a volunteer firefighter, Brodzinski took his training, and put it to use and helped save a life. 

“I was definitely nervous about messing up, but it was my duty,” Brodzinski explained. “So I got in there and started chest compressions and breaths until other help came.” 

Many who witnessed the incident, believed that it was possible that the umpire became overheated during the Delco Boys’ Baseball League game, but although many tried to help hydrate the umpire, Brodzinski realized that the umpire’s loss of consciousness was much more serious. 

“Everything was happening quickly, and it was very overwhelming,” said Drew Piselli, coach of Brodzinski’s recreation team. “Mike was incredible.”  Brodzinksi took initiative and began to perform CPR until emergency medical technicians arrived at the scene to take the male victim to the hospital.

In the United States, approximately 48 people will have a cardiac arrest event outside of the hospital every hour. Nine out of ten people will not survive, but if lifesaving CPR is performed, a victim’s chance of surviving will increase.  The American Heart Association recommends that CPR training, which includes hands-on practice, be a requirement for graduation from high school.  By teaching students how to respond to cardiac arrest and stroke, schools will play a crucial role in the chain of survival for these victims.

This world needs more young people like Mike Brodzinski, who are equipped with the correct CPR training and will utilize those skills when needed.  Out of all the people who attended the baseball game that night, he was the first to take initiative.  If we start training the new generation at a young age, we can double the rate of survival for victims of stoke and cardiac arrest.