Bristol Twp First Responders Recognized for Saving a Life

A Bristol Township man went to visit his son on October 25 at his job in Levittown. The next thing Charles Nikels of Bristol Township knew he  was on the ground clutching his chest as a heart attack gripped him.

His stepson, John Snyder, 23, jumped into action performing CPR, knowing he had only minutes before the loss of oxygen to the brain could cause permanent damage or worse.

Snyder and 11 Bristol Township first responders were honored Wednesday afternoon for their life saving and sustaining actions performed in saving 46-year-old Nikels life that day in a ceremony at the Bucks County Rescue Squad (BCRS) on King Street in Bristol Township.

Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito, Bristol Township police Officer Tom VanWinkle and Bucks County Rescue Squad paramedics Layne Shore, Eliot Gross, Stacey Kersten and Justin Tuttle were distinguished for saving  Nickles. Fred Sponheimer, Jim Breslin and Jeff Goudly from Bristol Township Engine 225 and Joseph Huber, Kenyatta Jones and Gary Dunbar from Newportville Fire Company were honored.

Nikels, who stood by quietly with his wife and stepson, as the commemoration took place later said, ” I’m real grateful for these guys and what they did. They are true heroes.”

Joe Hayes, Deputy Chief, Public Information Officer for BCRS, accentuated the critical nature of  the life saving event  performed by the team of first responders.

“The most important person in a cardiac arrest is not a paramedic or emergency room physician or a cardiologist, it’s whoever happens to be with the patient or close by who recognize the possibility of a cardiac and begin CPR without delay.”

First to arrive and help  Snyder were Dippolito and VanWinkle, who attached a defibrillator and continued CPR.

Nickles was taken to Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol Township by paramedics, where an emergency angioplasty was performed.

Nickles’ right heart ventricle was 90 percent blocked doctors discovered.

The first responders one and all  said the same thing being honored “saving lives and helping the public is what we do” almost embarrassed at the attention.

After the ceremony Snyder shared he learned CPR as Civil Air Patrol Cadet as a kid “and it kind of  stuck with me.” That cadet troop now meets at the rescue squad’s base, ironically, Hayes said.

It’s the third time in recent months local first responders were credited with saving a resident from potentially life threatening circumstances (See below)

Bristol Township Councilman Craig Bowen said its “simply  incredible what our first responders do for the township and its residents. They are a credit to us all.”

“This was the ultimate effort,” Hayes said.

“I feel great, I really do,” Nikels said,  “and its all because of those guys.”

Despite Bucks County having some of the best EMS response times in the country, cardiac arrest is a very time sensitive emergency. Once cut off of oxygen, the brain begins to die within just 4-6 mins.  Chances of survival decrease 10 percent every minute CPR is not initiated. With optimal national response times of less than 9 mins and 59 seconds, 90 percent of the time if you wait for EMS to arrive to start resuscitation efforts in a cardiac arrest, in most cases it will already be too late.