By Linda Taaffe

Few local residents probably know Jim Burns, but those who met the Illinois resident last month are calling him a Los Altos miracle.

The 76-year-old grandfather survived death during a visit at his son’s Lisa Lane home in Los Altos July 24.

His family’s quick response, a patrol car’s timely arrival and a little luck brought Burns back to life after he died from heart failure - unlikely odds in 95 percent of cardiac arrest cases, according to statistics from the American Heart Association.

Burns’ rescue is the first time the police department has successfully saved a life in the two years that patrol officers have begun carrying portable defibrillators in their cars, Captain Bob Lacey said. Paramedics at the scene said Burns’ was the second successful life saved out of 180 attempted rescues.

Burns was walking the hallways at El Camino Hospital with assistance last week following two days of lying unconscious, his son Dan Burns said. He is expected to return home within the next two weeks.

“He opened his eyes and scanned the room. That’s when I knew ‘Dad’s in there,’” Dan said. “The first thing he said to me was ‘thank you. I want to rest now.’ He’s still a little confused. I hope seeing this article will jog his memory.”

Lacey attributed Burns’ rescue and recovery to timing.

“We usually get the call too late. A person has been down a long time,” Lacey said. “We’ve revived victims, but they have died later of other complications. The whole point I want to get across is to call right away.”

Los Altos police began carrying Automatic External Defibrillators in their patrol cars in December 2001 as part of a program to quicken emergency response time for residents suffering heart failure.

Police Chief Don Johnson said police are often the first ones on the scene because they are already out in the community patrolling.

Burns had spent the last night of his family vacation playing pool with his son before retiring to bed at around 10 p.m.

“He had a great visit. We did a lot. He beat me at pool that night … which is rare,” Dan said.

Dan awoke at around 3 a.m. to the sounds of his father walking down the hall to his mother’s room to get help. He said he was having problems breathing, Dan said.

“I didn’t think he was having a heart attack but he was definitely in distress,” he said.

Dan’s mother begun rubbing his father’s back while Dan called 911. Dan was relaying information to the operator when Burns’ eyes rolled backed in his head, his tongue protruded forward and he slumped down. Dan immediately started CPR to keep the oxygen flowing to his father’s brain until police arrived less than one minute later.

Sgt. Mark MacCaulay and Officer Levi Lnenicka were patrolling nearby when they heard the call. MacCaulay said he had used the defibrillator only once prior to the emergency call.

“He was one link in the chain … By the time the defibrillator was ready, the paramedics arrived. He saved precious seconds by having it ready,” Dan said.

“When I took CPR they told me, ‘chances are you are going to perform CPR on someone you know.’ I’m glad I knew it to use it on my dad.”