Pittsburgh Public Schools Police Officer Gary Paull tearfully thanked his colleagues and Pittsburgh paramedics who resuscitated him after he went into cardiac arrest on Dec. 21.

Officer Paull was on duty at the police station on Ridge Avenue when he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. Four of his colleagues performed CPR and used an Automatic Emergency Defibrillator on him. Even after paramedics arrived they continued their efforts.

"Every doctor I talked to said I should have died that day," said Officer Paull at a ceremony today at the Emergency Medical Services Training Division building in the Strip District.

District Chief James Holman of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services said the survival rates for cardiac arrest patients nationally are about 10 percent. In Pittsburgh, however, the rates range around 13 percent. Chief Holman believes it's due to Emergency Medical Services' deployment of cutting edge technology, such as advanced cardiac monitors that can give feedback to paramedics on whether they are performing CPR properly.

Officer Paull has made a full recovery and is back on the job.

"Today, I'm the luckiest man on earth," he said.