Honolulu Emergency Medical Services on Friday recognized Hawaii Gas employees for saving the life of a 71-year-old co-worker who suffered a cardiac arrest in January.

The ceremony, marking the 50th anniversary of National Emergency Medical Services Week, highlighted the importance of learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation and having automated external defibrillators on-site.

Glenn Yamada, the fleet and facilities supervisor at Hawaii Gas, was off duty on Jan. 18 but stopped breathing during a visit to his office on Kamakee Street.

Hawaii Gas employee Constance Gibo, who was present, called co-worker Ryan Willis for assistance. They performed CPR on Yamada and shocked him with an AED as well before professional help arrived on-scene.

Despite feeling scared and worried, Gibo said her first instinct was to do everything she could to save Yamada, whom she described as “fantastic.”

“We all get along, and we’re just happy that he’s here,” Gibo said.

Yamada thanked the company Friday for being proactive and expressed his gratitude to Hawaii Gas for having CPR training and an AED unit available.

“I’ve been here over 20 years, and looks like I’ll be here a little while longer thanks to everybody, their teamwork and the company for being proactive,” Yamada said.

Hawaii Gas Senior Director of Safety and Compliance Marc Dexter told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Hawaii Gas provides annual CPR and AED training for its employees.

He emphasized the company’s ongoing commitment to ensuring all employees are trained for emergency situations, especially following Yamada’s incident.

Paramedic Marlon Cezar and Emergency Medical Technician Heidi Jacobs responded to the call for help for Yamada in January and reunited with him Friday during the ceremony.

“We respond to hundreds of calls a day and bystanders or co-workers don’t always immediately do what is necessary to keep the patient alive. But these employees showed bravery when they started CPR, and when they retrieved an AED and used it properly. They are untrained emergency responders, yet they did exactly what needed to be done to keep their friend alive,” Cezar said in a statement.

Cezar told the Star-Advertiser that fewer than 10% of EMS calls require him to respond to critical situations involving CPR. Of those, a smaller fraction are cases like Yamada’s, where the patient is already receiving some assistance.

“If you ask me if there are cardiac arrest victims who are still alive when we arrive on the scene, the answer is that they are very few and far between,” Cezar said.

Both Cezar and Jacobs said the employees helped out Yamada “tremendously.”

“His co-workers did a really good job at saving him,” Cezar said. “It takes a very special person to do that.”

“The seamless integration of CPR and AED use between the employees of the gas company, the Honolulu Fire Department and Honolulu EMS is a testament to the preparedness and the importance of having these skills and tools readily available,” EMS Assistant Chief of Professional Standards Korey Chock said.

“Thanks to these lifesaving efforts, we are not mourning a tragic loss,” Chock said. “This incident underscores the value of CPR and AED training for everyone. It is a reminder that in moments of crisis, knowledge and preparedness can make the difference between life and death.”