Overview
- Body-camera video shows officers at the Old Westbury Diner moving 75-year-old Phillip Amico to the floor, starting chest compressions, and delivering shocks with a defibrillator until he regained a pulse and began to speak.
- The Old Westbury Police Department awarded life-saving commendations to Officer John Kassebaum, Officer Michael Avelin, and Detective Michael Brown for their roles in the rescue.
- Amico, a retired banker from East Williston, publicly thanked the officers and said hospital staff at Winthrop revived him twice after he was transported from the diner.
- Police leaders stressed that every patrol car in the department carries an automated external defibrillator, a policy they credit with enabling the quick shock that restored Amico’s breathing.
- Emergency medical experts say immediate CPR and early use of an AED can double or even triple survival in sudden cardiac arrest, a message the department highlighted as the video circulated.