Gaithersburg Man an ‘Everyday’ Hero for Saving Student’s Life (VIDEO)
Kevin Owens stands next to an AED at the Gaithersburg Life Time
A Gaithersburg man received an “Everyday Citizen Hero” award from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services for his quick-thinking and calm composure for applying CPR and using an automatic electronic defibrillator to save a man who had a heart attack.
Kevin Owens, 47, said he was leading a cycling class at the Rockville Life Time Fitness Health Club in November. One of his students, Sergey Orekov, wasn’t looking well. He approached the student, who gave him a blank stare and then fell into his arms.
They put the Orekov on the floor and realized he wasn’t breathing. Owens asked for someone to call 911 and to fetch the AED in the hallway. In the meantime, he performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
When the AED arrived, Owens placed the pads on Orekov’s chest and the machine read Orekov’s vital signs. The machine then instructed everyone to take a step back and it administered a shock. After the shock, the machine instructed that the student should receive more CPR compressions.
Orekov stopped breathing again, and Owens applied mouth-to-mouth again. The student eventually received another shock.
Eventually, the paramedics arrived and rushed the student to the hospital.
Owens, a part-time instructor at Life Time, praised the company for having AEDs on site.
“To not have one of those is almost irresponsible,” he said.
Owens offers three pieces of advice, see video below, for people who respond when someone has a heart attack:
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