By Claire Z. Cardona
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — A Dallas police officer helped save the life of a runner who had a heart attack during the BMW Dallas Marathon on Sunday.
Lt. Alex Eastman was providing security for the marathon when an officer called for an ambulance over the radio. Eastman drove a few blocks over to where people were giving the man CPR, police said.
Eastman, a doctor and reserve officer with the department for almost 14 years, said he knew the runner was dead when he went up to him. The doctor used an AED and revived the man, police said.
“In my 16 years as a doctor, I have never seen anyone come back like that,” Eastman told police.
When the man began to talk again, Eastman said the runner was “incredibly grateful and thankful to have a second chance at life.”
The man was hospitalized, and Eastman has gone multiple times to visit, police said.
“I was going out to work that day on the SWAT team, and I ended up helping save someone,” he told police. “I guess I was just at the right place at the right time.”
As a trauma surgeon and member of the Police Department’s SWAT team, it’s Eastman’s job to jump into action in situations like Sunday’s.
Eastman began working with the tactical team in 2004 and was one of the first doctors in the nation to become a trained member of a SWAT team.
In February 2006, Eastman was on scene when four Dallas SWAT officers were shot while helping the DEA serve federal drug warrants. He began pulling officers to safety and tending to their wounds with other team members while the bullets kept flying.
All of the officers recovered.
https://twitter.com/DPDReserves/status/939968034214678529
In October 2007, Eastman, along with Dr. Jeff Metzger, helped save Lt. Carlton Marshall after he was shot in the neck during a raid.
When an “officer down” call went out over police radios, Eastman and Metzger, also a member of the SWAT team, headed toward the side of the house and met a group of officers who were dragging the critically injured lieutenant.
Metzger held Marshall’s head while Eastman cut a hole in his neck, allowing him to breath. He survived but was temporarily paralyzed and retired a few years later.
Eastman was also in downtown Dallas during the deadly July 7, 2016, ambush and went to comfort his friends and fellow officers at Parkland Memorial Hospital after the shooting. He did not elaborate on his actions that night, but stressed the importance of getting help after a traumatic experience.
Eastman is the medical director and chief at Parkland’s Rees-Jones Trauma Center and an assistant professor specializing in surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, according to the hospital’s directory.
©2017 The Dallas Morning News