[January 04, 2011] Staff, neighbors save Y boss Tweet Jan 04, 2011 (The Free Lance-Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- When he collapsed at work recently, Barney Reiley was next door to a rescue squad station and surrounded by colleagues who were trained to help. It probably saved his life. "I am so proud of the staff and so grateful to them and the rescue squad," he said last week. Reiley, 52, has been chief executive at the Rappahannock Area YMCA for 17 years. On Friday, Oct. 29, he was exercising in its Massad Family Branch on Butler Road in Stafford County when he suffered a cardiac arrest. It was about 2 p.m. and Reiley had just climbed aboard one of the StairMaster machines in the Wellness Center. Paul Gehring, executive director at the Ron Rosner Family YMCA in Spotsylvania County, was visiting the Massad branch and standing beside Reiley, talking to his boss while he exercised. Gehring knew that Reiley had just started his workout, so he was surprised to see him stop. Usually Reiley is "an animal" on the StairMaster and will go for long periods at a torrid pace, Gehring said. But this time, he stepped off the machine, and still clutching it, rested his head on his arms. "When he came up, his eyes were just glazed over," Gehring said. "Are you OK?" Gehring asked. Reiley did not answer. Instead, he fell backward, hitting the treadmill behind him, then crashing face-first into the glass wall beside the exercise machines. "It sounded pretty bad when he hit," Gehring said. At first, Gehring thought Reiley had fainted. His breathing was labored, but he had a pulse. Other staff and patrons in the room moved the machines to make room. They helped Gehring, who was cradling Reiley's head, turn him on his back, and Gehring banged on the glass and told those at the front desk to call 911. By then, Reiley had turned gray, and when Gehring felt for a pulse, he could not find one. Like many YMCA employees, Gehring has been trained in first aid and CPR, so he started chest compressions. It was the first time he had used his training. Soon three squad members from Stafford's Rescue Station 1, the Falmouth station next door, were kneeling beside Gehring. Gehring said that the rescue workers got there so fast that he went back later to see how long it took. Four minutes, he discovered. One of the squad members took over the chest compressions. Another used a bag mask to help with breathing, and another cut off Reiley's shirt, dried his chest and attached a defibrillator. One shock from the machine restored his normal heart rhythm. Gehring, meanwhile, looked through the glass toward the front desk. Several employees and patrons had gathered there to watch. "They either had shock on their face, or they were crying," Gehring said. Today, Reiley is recovering and under the care of a cardiologist. But his heart was not damaged, and he is exercising again and back at work. He said he had no history of heart problems, no warning before the collapse and no memory of it afterward. He learned two days later, after being airlifted to the VCU Medical Center in Richmond, that one of his coronary arteries was at least 60 percent blocked, and another was at least 70 percent blocked. Apparently a piece of plaque broke loose from one of the blockages to cause the attack. Doctors placed three stents in his arteries to open them. Reiley said he's resolved to continue exercising and to eat better, with fewer fats and sweets. His doctor has recommended that he lose about 25 pounds. "I'm not obese, but I'm a big guy," he said. "As I get older, I need to have a lighter frame." He's also grateful for the support provided by his wife, Kim, and their three children. And he's proud of the YMCA staff and glad that they had been trained in CPR. "It is so ironic that I head up an organization that saved my life," he said. Jim Hall: 540/374-5433 Email: [email protected] Barney Reiley was one of 300,000 people in the United States who are treated by emergency medical personnel each year for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. More than 90 percent of these victims do not survive the event, according to the American Heart Association. Reiley also was lucky that he received immediate CPR. Fewer than one-third of those who suffer sudden cardiac arrest receive CPR. Effective bystander CPR, provided immediately, can double or triple a victim's chance of survival, according to the association. To see more of The Free Lance-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://fredericksburg.com/flshome. Copyright (c) 2011, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]