AFSCME Hero's Quick Thinking Saves a Life

A 30 year veteran City of Daytona Beach employee and AFSCME Local 2066 member Ted Wolfe saved a life in early March when he came upon a 57-year-old man unresponsive and slumped over his steering wheel in the middle of a busy intersection. As others panicked and shouted that the driver was dead, Wolfe calmly sprang into action checking his pulse and confirming he was not breathing. Assisted by a local nurse, Tammy Leggett, who came upon the scene in the nick of time, the pair quickly removed the gentleman from behind the wheel and began performing CPR.

"I really didn't even have time to think about it," said Wolfe.  "It was all instinct and the fact that I had just completed a CPR course just a week before." The City of Daytona Beach offered CPR training to about 100 employees last month as part of its proactive monthly safety training program. Wolfe, a Sewer Line Technician who inspects water and sewage systems for leaks as part of his job, thought the training was a good idea. "It really paid off very quickly," he said. 

Mr. Wolfe immediately began chest compressions while Leggett, a registered nurse at Halifax Medical Center’s ER, began breathing air in to the man's mouth. "For the first fews moments, I pumped and pumped but got nothing," said Mr. Wolfe, "but then, suddenly, the man's face twitched and the color started coming back. I yelled 'come on dude!, come on dude!' and he started to come around." An ambulance arrived a few minutes later and the resuscitated man was rushed to a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. 

For his life-saving efforts in an emergency, Mr. Wolfe was recognized by the American Heart Association as a HeartSaver Hero. AFSCME Florida Council 79 also plans to honor Mr. Wolfe, an every day frontline worker who for three decades has helped keep the water moving in the City of Daytona Beach. "Ted Wolfe epitomizes what public service is all about," said AFSCME Florida President Vicki Hall. "His spirit, dedication, and selflessness illustrates how public service work isn't just a job, it's a calling."