Why CPR Matters: Scouts Save a Life
CPR training put to test successfully in a moment of crisis.
- By Ellen Coughlin
- What started out as a typical beach day on Saturday, July 16, quickly turned into a race for Boy Scouts Joe Abate and Matt McGovern to save the life of Frank Rizzo, a Point Pleasant Beach Councilman, and neighbor of the Abate family.
McGovern, an Eagle Scout from Roseland, and another friend, Alex Salamone of North Caldwell, were visiting Abate, a lifelong Scout from North Caldwell, at his family's beach house in Point Pleasant.
At around 11:20 a.m. on that hot Saturday, the three boys had been listening to music on the Abate's boat, which was docked in their slip across the street from their home.
McGovern heard a woman screaming nearby, "Edward, Edward!"
"Just the way she was screaming, I knew something was wrong," McGovern said.
What McGovern heard was Rizzo's adult daughter, Lois Rizzo, calling her cousin Edward for help after Rizzo had collapsed in his back yard.
"Thank God he heard it," said Abate, who told his friends to stay with the boat while he checked to see if there was a problem.
Abate recounts when he ran up the dock, he encountered a distraught Lois Rizzo watching her cousin Eddie performing CPR on her father.
As Abate says, all his Boy Scout lifesaving training "kicked in". When Lois tried to hand her phone to him to call 911, he instructed her to handle that, while he took over for Eddie. At the time, Rizzo was not breathing and had no pulse. Abate began CPR, and after a minute detected a weak pulse in Rizzo.
Meanwhile, Abate's mother, Lorraine Abate, sensing the commotion, arrived on the scene. Abate, while continuing to administer CPR yelled to his mom to get McGovern.
McGovern talked Abate through the lifesaving steps. "When I got there, he (Rizzo) had taken his first big breath. Joe was checking his pulse at the neck and wrist. I told Joe to lift his head," McGovern recalls.
While McGovern did provide a calming presence, at that point, Abate says, "I can't remember what Matt said. I was in a zone."
While Salamone stayed behind to keep an eye on younger children, Abate's mother, father and aunt returned to the scene.
Lorraine Abate brought an ice pack for Frank Rizzo, while her sister shielded Abate and Rizzo from the heat with an umbrella.
After administering the ice pack, Abate said Rizzo's pulse became stronger. "I became more confident," Abate said.
Lorraine Abate called the scene "surreal". She said Joe talked to Rizzo while working on him, telling him he was going to be okay.
"I am so proud of Joe. It is pretty amazing. He brought him back," she said.
Meanwhile, the first emergency responders on the scene were two Point Pleasant police officers on bicycles. As Joe Abate recounts, when his father asked them if they were going to help, they replied, "The kid (Joe) seems to have things under control."
Soon a patrol car and an EMT squad arrived. Joe and his father remained on the scene giving assistance and providing information until Rizzo was transported to the hospital.
Rizzo, who was not conscious, does not remember anything until he woke up in the hospital, and his doctor informed him he was here because of Joe Abate.
"He is a dynamite kid. I have known him for years, a perfect gentleman, polite and kind. These kids were there at the right time. They brought me back," Rizzo said.
Lois Rizzo adds, "He is a very dear friend. He saved my father's life last week. My father is resting and alive because of Joey Abate."
Both Abate and McGovern credit their Boy Scout training with helping them through this life emergency.
Abate, who turned 16 on July 20, is a member of Troop One in North Caldwell and will enter his junior year at West Essex Regional High School. Abate has taken life-saving training as part of his requirements for Boy Scout merit badges.
He said all the training just "kicked in" when he encountered the collapsed Rizzo. "The training is amazing. This is how you do it," he added.
While McGovern did not expect to have to use his training so soon after achieving the Eagle Scout rank a little over a month ago, he did say, "This shows you always have to be prepared."
McGovern, age 16, a member of Troop 6 in Caldwell who will be entering his junior year at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, said their accomplishment did not hit him until later that night.
"Our parents were congratulating us. It really did not kick in until later that we were there for a reason," McGovern said.
His mother, Maria McGovern, is also proud of him. "He remained calm. He exercised wonderful leadership skills and was a good Samaritan."
Troop One Scout Master Paul Holland adds, "Joe Abate epitomizes the qualities the Boy Scouts of America strive to develop in our young people. His clear thinking and level-headed reaction in a life-threatening situation is a testament to his character and abilities."
Holland goes on to say that while Abate's actions "are a source of pride, they do not come as a surprise." - "He is a fine young an and a credit to us all" , he said.
