Two nurses who saved a fellow player's life at the Tulsa Tennis Club received EMSA's Everyday Heroes award Aug. 24.

John Lieber and Hannah Scace were honored at a ceremony at the club for performing CPR and using an automated external defibrillator (AED) that restored the patient's heartbeat before paramedics arrived, according to EMSA.

The cardiac arrest happened on a Thursday evening in April. Lieber, a registered nurse, was on a break when he saw his friend lying on his back on the court, not moving. He called 911 and began coordinating CPR. Scace, also a nurse, heard yells for help, grabbed the club's AED and attached it to the patient. The device detected a shockable rhythm and delivered one electrical shock.

"And on the first bolt of electricity he came back to life," Lieber told KJRH.

EMSA Paramedic Colton Ennis and EMT Alex Rodriguez arrived less than six minutes after the 911 call. They found the patient already awake and talking. The ambulance had been staged three miles from the club, and EMSA's dispatch center assigned it within 15 seconds of receiving the call.

The patient, who wished to remain anonymous, reported a full recovery with essentially no damage to his heart.

Lieber said at the Aug. 24 ceremony that he reviews the CPR manual at the start of every month and had reviewed it the day before the incident. He recertifies every two years as part of his nursing requirements.

EMSA Community Engagement Manager Riley Howard said bystander CPR increases a cardiac arrest patient's chance of survival by 5 to 8 percent. Howard called the six-minute timeline "unheard of," telling KJRH that Lieber and Scace "had done everything we could have asked for them."

At the ceremony, Ennis presented Scace with an Everyday Heroes plaque and pin, while Rodriguez presented Lieber's award. The two responders had been the first on scene in April.

Lieber told KJRH the two friends have since returned to the tennis court together.