NEWTON, Iowa — Two Newton Police Department officers and four Newton firefighters were honored after a coordinated CPR and AED response helped save a Newton resident during a cardiac emergency, according to a City of Newton release.

The city said Officers Ryan Zylstra and Braydon Chance were the first to arrive. They immediately began CPR and used an automated external defibrillator before fire and EMS personnel arrived.

Police started CPR before fire and EMS arrived

When Newton Fire Department crews reached the scene, Firefighters Trent Baker, Joe Crum, Chad Ray and Kyle Letendre assumed patient care and continued advanced life support, including defibrillation, according to the city.

The combined response resulted in the patient regaining spontaneous breathing and consciousness at the scene, the release said. The resident was then transported for specialized cardiac treatment.

A full recovery after a blocked artery was treated

According to the City of Newton, physicians identified and successfully treated a 100% blockage in a coronary artery after the patient was transported. The patient was discharged from the hospital after several days of recovery.

The Newton Fire Department presented its Life Save Award, which the city described as one of the department’s highest recognitions. The city said commendation letters issued to Zylstra and Chance recognized their critical role in the outcome.

Why this story matters

This is the kind of public-safety response that rarely makes national headlines but matters deeply at the local level: police arriving first, CPR starting immediately, an AED being used, firefighters and EMS continuing advanced care, and a resident surviving long enough to receive hospital treatment.

For communities, it is also a practical reminder that AED access, CPR training and coordinated police-fire-EMS response can change the outcome in the first minutes of a cardiac emergency.

Sources reviewed

Editorial note: ThinBlueNews did not name the patient and did not add medical details beyond the City of Newton release. Because the city release did not publish an incident photo, ThinBlueNews used an official Newton Fire Department source image rather than AI-generated rescue imagery.