Seminole County honors lifesaving CPR response in pickleball cardiac arrest

Seminole County fire officials used a rescue in a Lake Forest pickleball game to show how survival often depends on minutes, not miracles. Dr. George Mitrogogos, a Sanford dentist, recognized that Jeff Kotkin had gone into sudden cardiac arrest and immediately began hands-only CPR while others called 911.

Fire Station 34 crews reached the scene in less than five minutes, restored a shockable rhythm and then transported Kotkin to Orlando Health Lake Mary Hospital. County officials recognized Mitrogogos and several firefighters at Fire Station 34 on June 8, turning the rescue into a public example of the chain of survival that can keep a cardiac arrest from becoming fatal.

The details of that chain matter for ordinary residents gathered at parks, courts and neighborhood clubs across Seminole County. County CPR materials say hands-only CPR starts with calling 911, then pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute until emergency medical services arrive. Seminole County also operates PulsePoint, which alerts nearby citizens at the same time responders are dispatched so trained bystanders can move in before crews arrive.

That first response is critical because cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it happens when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating, and the American Heart Association says CPR given immediately can double or triple survival chances. The CDC also says CPR and AED use within minutes can dramatically improve survival. In the United States, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen outside hospitals each year, and bystander CPR is delivered in only about one-fourth of those events on average.

Kotkin’s recovery gives the story a local face. He was taken to Orlando Health Lake Mary Hospital, a 124-bed acute care hospital with cardiovascular services, operating rooms, catheterization labs, an intensive care unit and a full-service emergency department. Since then, he has become an advocate for the county’s free Save A Life Seminole program, encouraging more residents to learn the same lifesaving skills that helped save him.

For Seminole County Fire Department, the recognition fit its broader mission of preserving life and property through rapid response and prevention. For everyone who plays, walks, works or gathers in the county’s neighborhoods, the message from Lake Forest is plain: call 911, start compressions and use an AED without delay.