At station, a cry goes out and help rushes in

Rescuers, device save stricken man

''I could see this guy turning blue,'' Alex Santos said, recalling with Patricia Rogers, one of his fellow rescuers, how he helped save a man at North Station. (BILL BRETT FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

When a North Andover man collapsed in the waiting area of the North Station commuter rail service, help was nearly instantaneous.

In the middle of the crowded station Wednesday at about 7 p.m., the man cried out, then slumped over on a bench. Three bystanders - a student nurse, a registered nurse, and an emergency room technician - rushed to his aid while a transit police officer ran to get a defibrillator, similar to ones being installed on all commuter trains.

Their quick action and use of the defibrillator worked.

"It was frightening; it all happened so quickly," said one of the rescuers, Patricia Rogers, a student nurse who spoke at a press conference at North Station yesterday afternoon.

"The first thing I noticed was his wedding ring," Rogers said. "It struck me; I knew we had to help this man."

She said she had never before used such a device, called an automated external defibrillator. "My training at MGH certainly helped, but it was so nice to have a team there, to have support," Rogers said.

John P. Hogan Jr., the director of Safety and Security for Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Co., said the widespread availability of the AEDs throughout the commuter rail system will continue to save lives. "Certainly in this case it worked," he said. "The AED is very user friendly. Truly anyone can use this device."

The 53-year-old man, whose family requested anonymity, was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was listed in good condition yesterday. He had suffered a cardiac arrest, Transit Police Lieutenant Robert Lenehan said at the press conference.

One of the rescuers, Alex Santos, an emergency room technician and a medic in the National Guard, recounted the rescue at the press conference.

"I was sitting on a bench waiting for my train when I heard this yelp right behind me," said Santos, who was at the station with his cousin. "I turned around, and I could see this guy turning blue, and his eyes were rolling back in his head."

He rushed over to help. Rogers had just walked into the station when she saw Santos with the stricken man, and she ran to them. At the same time, Candice Kruszkowski, a nurse at Children's Hospital, ran to assist them.

"We moved him to the floor and removed his glasses and his shirt," Santos said. "We couldn't hear any breathing and his pulse was weakening, so I started compressions and Candice managed his airway."

As they continued to work, it became apparent that the victim's airway was obstructed. Santos said he sent his cousin to get a plastic spoon from the nearby Dunkin' Donuts and used it to keep the man's airway open.

A transit police officer ran to get the defibrillator from the trainmaster's station, which Rogers used to shock the man's heart. Soon after, emergency medical workers arrived.

Earlier this month, MBTA officials introduced a program to install the AEDs, portable devices that deliver electrical shocks to revive victims of cardiac arrest, on every commuter rail train. Since then, devices have been installed in each commuter station and on about 30 commuter trains. Officials say 84 more will be installed on trains by the end of spring.

The MBTA has about 50 AEDs on its bus and subway systems.