EMS technician suffers heart attack while giving CPR

DETROIT, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A Detroit EMS technician is recovering in a hospital following a heart attack while performing CPR on a patient, officials said.

Union rep Joe Barney said EMS technician Joseph Hardman was performing CPR on a patient on the way to a hospital Saturday morning when he suffered a heart attack, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

"He nearly died, had to go to surgery," Barney said.

Hardman "dropped his patient off alive while he was having a heart attack, then went to the ER, where they treated him immediately. He survived, and he's in fact laying three beds over from the guy he brought into the hospital," the union rep said.

"I talked to him this evening to make sure his family was OK, and he's doing better," he said. "But he's scared. The stress of the job is getting to be too much."

Barney said the EMS department is down to about 150 technicians from 304 just eight years ago. He said 30 techs recently quit due to pay cuts and work conditions.