George Tierney (holding the basketball) shares a laugh with the group of teammates and paramedic-firefighters while they pose for a group picture. The two groups are responsible for saving his life after he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in April.
Roland Dizon of the “Over the Hill” basketball group accepts a Life Saver Award from Fire District 3 for his role in helping save the life of teammate George Tierney in late April. Seven Over the Hill basketball players were honored last week at Chief Umtuch Middle School.
On April 24 during one of their usual twice-a-week games at Chief Umtuch Middle School, members of the “Over the Hill” basketball group heard someone hit the hardwood.
They rushed over to find George Tierney, local basketball referee and Over the Hill participant for the last 20 years, laying on the court.
At first they thought he would be fine, said John Reinhardt, a friend of Tierney's for over 40 years. He was taking deep breaths with his eyes closed. But as Tierney’s breathing weakened, Reinhardt knelt down and checked his pulse — he felt nothing.
Tierney had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.
Reinhardt has been retired from firefighting for 17 years, but hasn’t forgotten CPR. As he began to administer CPR, another member of the group retrieved an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from outside the gym.
Voice commands from the AED walked the group through each step as Reinhardt continued to administer compressions to Tierney’s chest. Within three minutes Fire District 3 paramedics arrived and took over.
Reinhardt, and the six others who helped, are credited with saving Tierney’s life.
Last Wednesday evening, during Over the Hill’s regularly scheduled playing time, a group of about 75 people gathered at Chief Umtuch to honor the seven hoopers who stepped up — Reinhardt, Geoff Busch, Michael Dolan, Jeremy Browning, Steve Bowers, Roland Dizon and Russ Grant.
In attendance for the special night was Battle Ground Public School’s superintendent and board of directors and the mayor of Battle Ground, along with friends and family of Tierney.
Clad in their basketball shoes, shorts and jerseys, having stepped into the school’s commons from the adjacent gym, each of the seven accepted a Life Saver Award from Fire District 3, who praised them for taking initiative and working as a team.
A few of them offered some simple words, including Reinhardt who said he was just grateful that Tierney was alive and doing well and was getting back to his “ornery self.” Others said they simply did what anyone would do in the same situation.
Des Gomez, one of the paramedic-firefighters who responded to the call, said the group’s quick work made all the difference: they immediately called 911; a group flagged down the responders from one of the school's entrances; and there was early CPR and defibrillation.
Soon after DF3 arrived and started working on him, Tierney began trying to breathe and fighting against the use of a breathing device, which Gomez said is a good sign.
After Tierney began breathing, he surprised the responders by talking, which Gomez said is very rare for his situation.
“I’ve never seen that,” he said while describing how quickly Tierney came back around.
“You guys are really the heroes,” he said to the seven hoopers. “You guys are really the life savers.”
Tierney said he doesn’t remember anything and is grateful his teammates stepped in to help.
“I just have to thank God they did what they did. I wouldn’t be here otherwise,” he told Portland news station KOIN 6 after the event. He hopes to be back on the court playing and refereeing as soon as he can.
Since they began placing AEDs in schools around a decade ago, the district said this is the first time one had been used. There are currently 23 AEDs across the district, mostly via donations and grants and a few from the district budget. They plan to continue placing more AEDs in schools around the district.
