CHATHAM, Illinois — Two police officers and an off-duty firefighter are being recognized after officials said their CPR and automated external defibrillator response helped revive a man who collapsed at a local gym.
The Chatham Police Department's public account identified the responders as off-duty Chatham firefighter Bobby Vrchota and Chatham Police Officers David Toledo and Adam Hahn.
Firefighter began CPR while officers brought an AED
According to WICS/NewsChannel 20's local report, the June 24 emergency began while Vrchota was working out at the gym. A young woman ran to him for help after an older man collapsed.
Vrchota found that the man had no pulse and immediately began CPR while directing someone to call 911, the station reported. Toledo and Hahn responded to the call and connected the man to an AED.
Officials told WICS that the man regained a pulse and began breathing on his own before he was taken to a hospital. The departments said he later made a full recovery.
A bystander and first responders formed one lifesaving chain
The response depended on several people acting without delay: the young woman sought help, an off-duty firefighter began CPR, someone called 911, and responding officers used the AED. The police and fire departments credited that teamwork and rapid response with helping save the man's life.
The case also shows why CPR training and public-access defibrillators matter. The American Heart Association describes immediate CPR and early defibrillation as critical links in the chain of survival during cardiac arrest. ThinBlueNews is limiting the medical description here to what Chatham officials and the local station publicly reported.
Readers can find more verified lifesaving work in ThinBlueNews' police hero stories, first responder news, law-enforcement recognition and latest news coverage.
Sources and visual attribution
- Chatham Police Department public post: “CPD Officers and Off Duty Firefighter work together to save a life”. The department's post identifies Bobby Vrchota, David Toledo and Adam Hahn and supplies the official public account of the response.
- WICS/NewsChannel 20: “CPD Officers, Off Duty Firefighter work together to save a life”. The local report supplies the June 24 timeline, CPR/AED sequence and full-recovery update attributed to Chatham police and fire officials.
- Daily Dispatch: “Chatham PD Officers and Off Duty Firefighter work together to save a life,” published July 31, 2026. Daily Dispatch republishes the local account and the Chatham source collage used above.
Featured-image note: This is the real source collage associated with the Chatham departments' recognition, not an AI-generated or unrelated incident image. It contains responder portraits and no patient or medical-emergency imagery. ThinBlueNews did not assign names to individual faces because the reviewed source did not provide a verified left-to-right identification.
Video note: The local publisher page contains a news-player element, but this report is not materially dependent on body-camera, rescue or incident footage. The verified public facts and source collage document the recognition without implying that video of the medical emergency exists.
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