Shortly after the van rolled to a stop in the left lane of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the cool, pre-dawn hours of a December morning, the driver lost consciousness and his body slumped over the vehicle’s center console.
It would take a smashed window, CPR and a team of bridge commuters and emergency workers to save his life.
One commuter broke a window to get the van's door open. Others helped pull the driver out and start CPR until a defibrillator could be used to shock his heart back into operation for an ambulance ride to the hospital.
For their efforts, the Causeway Commission is honoring the 11 people who played a role in keeping the man alive. Causeway General Manager Carlton Dufrechou said the man, who did not want to provide his name, is recovering.
"Everybody did exactly what they needed to do exactly when they needed to do it — and it saved a life," Dufrechou said. "It renews your faith."
The incident unfolded at around 6:45 a.m. Dec. 27 near the 16-mile marker on the 24-mile bridge's southbound span.
Radio dispatchers Karen Lewis and Anita Mudrick sent out a report of a disabled vehicle on the span and Motorist Assistance Patrol officer Lenton Brumfield responded. The van had stopped in the left lane, with the driver-side door nearly pinned against the bridge railing.
Dufrechou said the driver, who is from the northshore, was unconscious and experiencing a heart attack.
When Brumfield arrived, several commuters had already stopped, including Michael Jeansonne of Mandeville, who was breaking the passenger-side window to reach the driver. Once the van door could be opened, another commuter, Andrew Staffier of Mandeville, removed the driver’s seatbelt, and together with Jeansonne and Brumfield, helped take the driver out through the passenger-side door.
Another commuter, Christina Lepine, a medical assistant from Mandeville, checked for a pulse but found none. She began CPR while Brumfield got an automatic external defibrillator from his patrol vehicle, Dufrechou said.
Causeway Police Sgt. Colt Bruhl arrived at 6:50 a.m., as CPR efforts continued, and assisted Brumfield and Lepine using the defibrillator and continuing CPR, the Causeway said. Another Causeway Police Sergeant, Tristan Thomas, arrived a minute later to assist and ordered the bridge closed while resuscitation efforts continued.
The dispatchers, Lewis and Mudrick, both of Metairie, helped coordinate everyone's efforts, Dufrechou said, adding that it became a team effort.
The victim received five shocks from the defibrillator, Dufrechou said. At 7:02 a.m., an ambulance team, Stephanie Hartman and Spencer Bean, both paramedics, and Jonathan Thibodeaux, an emergency medical technician, arrived and rook over CPR efforts. Several minutes later the victim was brought by ambulance to Lakeview Hospital in Covington.