NEPTUNE CITY, NJ -- Mike Urti, manager of the Neptune City, NJ, Retrofitness club, will be honored by Mayor Thomas Arnone at Monday’s Neptune City Borough City Council meeting for saving the life of a member who suffered cardiac arrest at the club on Jan. 26.
Club member Charles Radiola collapsed while using a rowing machine on the club’s main cardio deck. Urti was at the front desk about 10 feet away at the time and saw him go down, he says.
“I happened to be looking in the general direction as it happened, and I sprinted over, so I was right there when he hit the ground,” Urti says. “I shook him to see if he was awake, but I got no response, and he wasn’t breathing, so I started administering CPR, and as I was doing it, I told another staff member to call 911. Another employee got our defibrillator and was putting that together.”
Club member Jim Frostick assisted Urti in administering CPR, which they kept up for three to four minutes. Urti says the response time from local police and EMS crews was quick. Emergency personnel took over and used the club’s automated external defibrillator (AED) on Radiola, who was not breathing when they arrived.
Radiola was taken to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center and put into intensive care. He was released to a regular room on Feb. 1 and is expected to be in attendance at Monday’s city council meeting, Urti says.
Edward Kirschenbaum, director of public safety for the Neptune City Police Department, sent a letter to the mayor suggesting the public recognition ceremony.
“If not for the immediate response and decisive action by Mr. Frostick, Mr. Urti, Sergeant Matthews and Patrolman Donovan III, Mr. Radiola would not be alive today,” he wrote in the letter.
Urti says his staff is CPR and AED certified. He was impressed with their quick response time.
“When we saw he wasn’t breathing, we had 911 called,” he says. “Our reaction time was good on all fronts—from our employees to the member who helped.”