SALISBURY – Police officers are being credited with saving a life after a tractor trailer driver had a heart attack behind the wheel. It happened at the busy intersection of Statesville Avenue and Jake Alexander Boulevard during the lunchtime rush.

“I believed it was going to be a crash or something, but walked up and found it was something totally different,” said Officer Brad Jordan, an 18-year veteran.

Jordan, who was training Officer Gary Maurer, was driving toward the intersection when they noticed the stalled tractor trailer.

“The tractor trailer was blocking the intersection,” said Jordan. “I got out of the vehicle and walked over there to see what the problem was; believing it was possibly a wreck or something like that.”

As Jordan approached the truck he saw Officer Mike McCart already at the cab of the truck. McCart couldn't find a pulse on the driver, and began attempting to revive the driver.

“Officer McCart started doing chest compressions and I started breathing for the subject,” explained Jordan.

Within minutes, Salisbury Firefighters Ken Keller, Rodney Misenheimer and Tim Grisham arrived with life saving equipment.

Every fire truck has a defibrillator, and firefighters took over CPR and used the defibrillator on the 48-year-old patient until EMS arrived. The driver's heart started beating in the EMS unit.

In a cardiac arrest call, every second counts. The quick thinking of officers, firefighters and EMS probably saved the man’s life.

“With PD getting there as soon as they did it helped that survival increase,” said Firefighter Mike McNeil.

“For whatever reason we happened to be a half a block away, two officers that knew how to do it, and we were able to work together and possibly save his life,” said Jordan.

Police said the truck driver received a stint at the hospital and is recovering. The Salisbury Police chief said local physicians were pushing to raise money to equip police cars with defibrillators for those times when officers are the first to arrive at medical calls.