OVERLAND PARK, KS -- Two more lives have been saved at clubs in recent weeks, both in the state of New York.

At Mount Kisco Athletic Club in Mount Kisco, NY, staff there helped save the life of a 64-year-old man who suffered a heart attack while working out on a treadmill in mid-July. Kathy Margiasso, the club’s fitness director, and personal trainer Val Yasovic revived the man with an automated external defibrillator (AED) and by performing CPR. They also told club manager Tom Brady to call 911.

“They responded amazingly, professionally and quickly,” Rick Beusman, the president of Saw Mill Sports Management, which operates the Mount Kisco Athletic Club, says of Margiasso and Yasovic. “By the time the EMT showed up, [the man] was breathing, although not conscious. The EMS [people] basically said, ‘Your people here have saved this man’s life.’”

Beusman says the man, an amateur mixed martial arts competitor, underwent triple bypass surgery.

“We got an e-mail from him,” Beusman says. “He didn’t realize that we had saved his life. He didn’t even know that he passed out on a treadmill. All he knew was that he was having a triple bypass. But he wants to come back to the club. He said, ‘I have a treadmill at home. If I hadn’t been at the club and been doing this at home, I’d be dead.’”

The Mount Kisco club was developed by Beusman and his father, Curt Beusman, who will receive Club Industry’s Lifetime Achievement Award this October. Rick Beusman said the Mount Kisco Athletic Club is expected to move from its current location and expand from 13,000 square feet to 42,000 square feet by the first of the year.

This past May, the staff at Island Health and Fitness in Ithaca, NY, helped save the life of a 47-year-old triathlete who was swimming with his fellow athletes at the club’s pool when he was found unresponsive in the water.

Club general manager John Comereski says the man’s friends got him to the side of the pool and up onto the pool deck. The lifeguard on duty activated the club’s emergency response system, and staff immediately brought over an emergency bag and an AED.

After three shocks with the AED, there was no change in the man’s condition. CPR continued until the arrival of an ambulance and paramedics, who shocked the man more times before he finally showed signs of regaining consciousness.

Comereski says the ambulance crew credited the Island Health and Fitness staff for saving the man’s life as indicated by the EKG report from the AED, which showed no effect from the shock and that the victim had been in ventricular fibrillation the entire time. The man is now doing well, Comereski adds.

“Having our entire staff up-to-date with CPR certification, along with a great emergency response system, led us to alleviate a death in our facility,” Comereski says. “Knowing what to do is one thing, but actually doing it is another.”

Club Industry reported on two near drownings earlier this month that resulted in both clubs saving each member’s life.

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