Police rescue attempt fails to save man

BANGOR – A motorist who approached a police blockade during President Bush’s speech on a road near Bangor International Airport on Thursday was accompanied by her husband who had suffered an apparent heart attack. Three police officers quickly went into action.

Pulling the man from the vehicle, they performed CPR and used an automated defibrillator to try to revive the man, whose name was not available. Sgt. Bill Birch of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department said he administered the defibrillator while Sgt. Sean Hashey and Trooper Matt Grant, both of the Maine State Police, tried to keep the man breathing, checked his vital signs and helped to calm the man’s wife.

They would find out later that the man was pronounced dead at Eastern Maine Medical Center. Birch said Friday that they did all that they could.

“We couldn’t have given him any better chances,” Birch said. Birch said he still thinks the defibrillators are a good thing to have. They have been available in county cruisers for about eight years.

Birch also credited the Bangor Fire Department for its quick response, especially in light of the traffic problems arising from Bush’s visit.

“For the amount of traffic and the chaos, Bangor Fire had a great response,” Birch said.