Officer Saves Patient in Cardiac Arrest After Accident

A Hinsdale police officer used an automatic external defibrillator (AED) Wednesday afternoon to resuscitate a person who was in cardiac arrest after a car accident on southbound Route 83 near 55th Street at approximately 2:22 p.m.

Clarendon Hills Fire Department Chief Brian Leahy said Clarendon Hills firefighter paramedics arrived shortly after Hinsdale officer Tim Lennox's successful use of the AED device on the patient, who by the time paramedics arrived was breathing and had a pulse.

READ: Officers Commended for Roles in 'Life Saving Event'

Paramedics provide additional advanced life support care, Leahy said, before transporting the patient to Adventist Hinsdale Hospital. There, the patient was treated by cardiologists and is now recovering in the hospital's ICU. 

"Congratulations to Officer Lennox for saving this person's life," Leahy said in an email Friday afternoon.

Hinsdale Police Department Deputy Chief Mark Wodka said more info about the accident and response would be available next week. He did say that all Hinsdale patrol vehicles are equipped with AED devices that were privately donated by a Hinsdale family.

"Since their donation, this is at least the third time one of our AED devices was used in a resuscitation with a positive medical outcome," Wodka said in an email.

The most publicized use of an AED by a Hinsdale police officer was during the 2011 4th of July parade in downtown Hinsdale. It was Lennox then who used his device to help resuscitate a Civil War re-enactor who had suffered a major heart attack in the middle of the parade.

READ: Hinsdale Parade Participant Saved After Heart Attack on Route