Chris Borinski, Robert Dannhardt

Assistant Scout masters Robert Dannhardt (right), Chris Borinski (left) and Roger Heck (not pictured) helped save a shooting instructor who suffered a near fatal heart attack in upstate New York over the weekend.

(Courtesy of Patricia Dannhardt)

Three assistant Scout masters for Randolph Boy Scout Troop 50 helped save a man who suffered a heart attack over the weekend. Pictured, the logo of the Boy Scouts of America.

FORESTBURGH, N.Y. — Three assistant Scout masters from Randolph helped save a shooting instructor who suffered a near-fatal heart attack at a camp in upstate New York last weekend.

Bob Dannhardt of Randolph told NJ Advance he and fellow assistant Scout master Roger Heck were taking several older Scouts with Randolph Boy Scout Troop 50 to practice shotgun shooting at the Forestburg Scout Reservation gun range Saturday evening when the shooting instructor collapsed. The camp is run by the Boy Scout Council in Monmouth County.

The instructor — a 58-year-old man from Monmouth County — had complained of indigestion when the group arrived at the range but they didn't think anything of it initially, Dannhardt said.

"The next thing we knew we heard a thud and he was on the ground clutching his chest," Dannhardt said.

The man had a weak pulse and shallow breathing so Dannhardt and Heck told the Scouts to call 911 and get the camp ranger while the duo began performing CPR. They were later joined by assistant Scout master Chris Borinski who helped perform chest compressions.

Dannhardt said they performed chest compressions on him for the next "10 to 15 minutes" while waiting for the camp ranger to arrive and were able to resuscitate him. When the ranger arrived, they began administering oxygen to the instructor and used the defibrillator to evaluate his condition, which indicated that he didn't need to be shocked, Dannhardt said.

About five minutes later, paramedics arrived and began working on the man, who suffered two more heart attacks later that day, Dannhardt. Emergency surgery was later performed on the instructor at a regional hospital to place stents in two of his occluded arteries, Dannhardt said.

Despite the trio of heart attacks, the instructor survived and is expected to leave the hospital today, he said.

Randolph Rescue Squad Capt. Todd Houston, who trained the Scout masters, said he had no doubt that if they didn't perform CPR the instructor wouldn't have lasted until the ambulance arrived.

"If somebody hadn't performed CPR, the guy wouldn't have had a chance," Houston said.

Before last weekend, the only first aid Dannhardt had had to perform in the field was "washing off cuts and putting on Band Aids."

"I never thought I'd have to use it," Dannhardt said of his CPR training.

Speaking of the older Scouts who called 911, Dannhardt said they had appeared scared but they handled the situation well.

The Randolph Rescue Squad has been running first aid and CPR classes for local Boy and Girl Scout troops for the past... Posted by Randolph Rescue Squad on Sunday, March 22, 2015

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.