2 Chicago police officers save veteran officer's life

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A pair of Chicago police officers are being called heroes after saving the life of a fellow officer.

During a shift change around 10 p.m. Saturday, a 55-year-old officer suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness in the lobby of police headquarters at 35th and Michigan.

Officer Norma Colon, who was reporting for duty, saw the veteran officer collapse and rushed to help him. Her partner, Officer Beata Staszewski, performed CPR on him. Other officers then grabbed a defibrillator and used it on him.

He regained consciousness and was transported to the hospital, where his condition stabilized.

"It just went so fast. Everybody just, we got on the air, requesting an ambulance. My partner started doing the chest compression and we were all together, working as a team," Colon said.

"You know, training is great. But when it actually happens it's like you have to really react and think fast. It's a person's life," Staszewski said.

The officers said they are glad they had the training they needed to save his life.

"I'm very glad that we have these defibrillators in the building, I know there was an incident recently in another district where the defibrillator was used successfully. So I'm glad that we have them in the station and that we do have training on the CPR as well," Staszewski said.

The officer who was saved is a 29-year veteran of the department.