Off-Duty Pasadena Firefighter, Doctor He Saved to Reunite Today

A Pasadena Fire Department firefighter will be reunited with a doctor whose life he saved at a Pasadena fire station on Saturday.

The reunion of Firefighter Manuel White and Dr. Allen Warner will take place at Fire Station 32 at 2424 E. Villa St. in Pasadena. Chief Bertral Washington will be at the event.

While exercising at a Long Beach LA FITNESS, Warner experienced sudden cardiac arrest.  Firefighter White — who was also working out at the gym at the same time — started performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and a gym staff member utilized the portable defibrillator.

Warner was transported to a hospital and recovered. He  has returned to work, now outfitted with a pacemaker/defibrillator.

In addition to the men reuniting, the event will be a reminder about the importance of learning basic CPR, officials said.

Failure to act in a cardiac emergency can lead to unnecessary deaths. Effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival, but only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander.

Sadly, less than eight percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive.