Woman Who Saved Man to Be Honored

The Los Angeles Fire Department will honor 13 residents today for saving the lives of others through the use of CPR at its semiannual Lifesavers Recognition Program.

The ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center, 1700 Stadium Way, Los Angeles.

The Lifesavers Recognition Program is designed to raise public awareness about the importance of early emergency intervention in life-threatening situations, and how quick action can save lives, said Fire Chief William Bamattre.

One of the honorees is Kathy Villa, a certified medical assistant from Van Nuys, who administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation to Charles Zimmer after he collapsed at a Canoga Park bowling alley.

Last May, Zimmer was at Canoga Bowling Lanes when suddenly he collapsed onto the floor.

“I was bowling with my son when I heard a thump,” Villa, a league bowler, recalled Wednesday. She saw a man lying motionless about four lanes over.

“I rushed over to him,” Villa said. “He looked like he had dropped dead. I took his vitals. He had no pulse, no breath and he looked ashy and gray.”

Without hesitation, Villa removed the man’s dentures and began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions. She continued to give CPR until paramedics arrived; they administered electrical shocks with defibrillator paddles.

“When they took over, I just fell apart,” Villa said. “I was so overwhelmed. We knew he was dead when he hit the floor. But I thought, if you do something quick, it can mean the difference between life and death.”

Fire Department paramedics loaded Zimmer, 71, into the ambulance and continued to give electrical shocks on the way to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills, said Capt. Stephen J. Ruda, a Fire Department spokesman.

In the ambulance, Zimmer regained a pulse, respiration and consciousness, Ruda said, and was later released from the hospital.

It wasn’t until about a week later, when Villa received a call from one of Zimmer’s relatives, that she learned he had survived.

“It’s a good feeling to know that I was there to do my best to help him,” she said.