Michael Fusaro

LPN

Griffin Health

After finishing an overnight shift at Griffin Hospital, Michael Fusaro, LPN, was headed home when he saw a car crash near the hospital entrance. Without hesitation, Mike ran toward the wreck.

Seeing that the driver was unresponsive, Mike’s instincts took over. The man’s wife was on his cell phone as the scene unfolded, and Mike quickly calmed her down. He then pulled the man from the car, checked for a pulse, and immediately began CPR in the hospital driveway. As the Griffin ED team rushed a gurney to the scene, Mike never stopped performing CPR for a second, climbing onto the gurney and continuing chest compressions while the patient was being moved through the parking lot, the hospital lobby, and into the Emergency Department.

The team fought to stabilize the patient’s failing heart. When several interventions didn’t restore the patient’s heartbeat, they made one final effort — administering medication to dissolve clots blocking blood flow. Moments later, the patient’s heart began to beat again.

Mike’s actions, driven by compassion and instinct, were not part of his shift that day — they are part of who he is. Mike’s commitment to putting patients first doesn’t end when he’s off the clock, or even when help arrives on the scene. Thanks to Mike, and the dedicated caregivers who continued his heroic work in the ED, a family was able to share the holidays. “Because of Griffin, we were able to celebrate Christmas together as a family,” the patient’s wife said. “You saved my soulmate.”

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