Nov. 09--It was Chicago police Officer Nick Picicci's first day on the force, and one that he never will forget.
Picicci, a probationary officer, and Field Training Officer Robert Cavaiani were patrolling near the intersection of Belmont and Austin avenues Sunday morning when they got a call about a medical emergency several blocks away. They zoomed to the 3100 block of North Marmora Avenue, where they found a family performing CPR on a 62-year-old man on the floor of his bathroom.
Cavaiani said there were no signs of life, no heartbeat and no breathing. But the man's body was warm, so the two officers began performing CPR, he said. After five minutes, a pulse returned, and the Chicago Fire Department transported the man to nearby Community First Medical Center.
"The hospital staff said if it hadn't been for the actions that we took, he'd probably be dead," said Cavaiani, who praised Picicci for remaining calm under pressure. Picicci, who graduated from the academy a few months ago, reacted just like a veteran police officer would, Cavaiani added.
"You can go from doing nothing, going for coffee, just driving around, to going crazy in the matter of an instant," he said, "and that's what happened."
