Investigations

N.Y. Officers Rescue Man in Cardiac Arrest

Aug. 1, 2012

The Patchogue man was not breathing and he had no pulse. But thanks to the work of Fifth Precinct officers, Richard Morpurgo, 74, is alive and in stable but guarded condition.

Aug. 01--The Patchogue man was not breathing and he had no pulse. But thanks to the work of Fifth Precinct officers Monday, Richard Morpurgo, 74, is alive and in stable but guarded condition Wednesday at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue, Suffolk County police said. The officers performed CPR and used a defibrillator to restore a heartbeat after a 911 call, police said..

The cardiac arrest happened just before 2 a.m. Monday, police said. The first arriving officers, identified as Robert Burgos and Arnold Reyes, performed CPR and "established an airway."

Two additional officers, Erik Snyder and Nicholas Blasuck, later arrived on the scene and helped with the CPR. A defibrillator then was used to restore a heartbeat.

Morpurgo was taken to the hospital by Patchogue Ambulance, police said.