Bernard Casey

Bernard Casey, retired Deputy Chief Fire Marshall for the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) was home alone in South Florida when he began to feel chest pains. His twenty-seven years of experience as a firefighter told him that he was having a cardiac event. Just then, his wife arrived home and Bernard told her, “Call 9-1-1. I am having a heart attack.”

Members of the Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue serving Hallandale Beach responded, performed an EKG and confirmed that their fellow veteran firefighter was having a heart attack. In Mr. Casey's own words, “It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and I could feel the pain radiate up into my neck.”

Bernard Casey was immediately transported to Aventura Hospital, a cardiac interventional facility, where the emergency department and Cath Lab response teams stood ready for his arrival and prepared him for the life-saving STEMI intervention performed by Suraj Rao, MD, Interventional Cardiologist.

A STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) is a full-blown heart attack caused by the complete blockage of a heart artery. Thanks to Mr. Casey’s quick recognition of the signs and symptoms of a cardiac event and the immediate medical response resulting in the timely opening of the blood vessel blockage, Mr. Casey was able to return home the very next day and continue being a snow bird.

On Feb. 28, 2020, a special reunion was held between Mr. Casey, the paramedics that identified the critical need for intervention and the hospital staff that joined forces to prevent a sudden cardiac death. See the Newsroom page of our website to view the news coverage.