According to recent American Heart Association statistics, nearly 383,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest annually; 88 percent at home.

A Polk Township resident became one of those statistics on Oct. 17. Thanks to the quick and knowledgeable response of West End Community Ambulance Association and Polk Township Volunteer firefighters, his life was saved.The WECAA station 8-2 in Saylorsburg was dispatched to a cardiac arrest in progress. The Monroe County Control Center dispatcher advised that they were providing CPR instructions to the caller.Immediately after that transmission, WECAA unit 826 requested assistance from the Polk Township Volunteer Fire Company. In addition to the fire department, an additional Basic Life Support unit from WECAA was able to respond and arrive on scene first.Once the first unit arrived, the automated external defibrillator was applied, along with high performance CPR. With the assistance of the Polk Township firefighters, WECAA units were able to administer necessary medications and shocks to the patient to ultimately regain a pulse.At the Nov. 24 Polk Township supervisors meeting, WECAA formally recognized the four Polk Township firefighters who aided the ambulance association and the resident. They are: Marta Harris, Taylor Cronshey, Derrick Burger and Caitlyn Beck."It's overwhelming to know you helped save a life. It makes you feel good," said Burger.Harris said, "It's not every day something like this happens. It's a surreal experience. A learning experience. I'm incredibly thankful we were able to revive him and I'm very proud to be a firefighter."Besides being a Polk Township firefighter, Beck is a nursing student at Cedar Crest College."At Polk, we put in a lot of time and effort into life- saving techniques and training and take refresher courses every year. Helping bring back this man was a very rewarding experience and one of my most fruitful moments," Beck says.Cronshey said it was very rewarding to be a part of changing someone's life for the better.The resident successfully underwent several procedures at the hospital, was released 10 days later with a pacemaker and is now home resting comfortably.