By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Rick’s Cabaret girls can get your heart beating, even after it’s stopped.
After a customer dropped dead from a fatal aneurysm last month, managers of the famous West 33rd Street strip club decided staffers needed a new skill — CPR.
Ten staffers, including three floor hosts and the club’s general, security and entertainment managers, completed two-days of in-house Automated External Defibrillator training, courtesy of the Red Cross. Trainers even brought dummies to the club for staff to practice on.
"As an establishment we deal with so many people," said manager David Rios. "We want to be prepared in case anything else happens."
The 32-year-old Wall Street attorney hung out at Rick’s with two buddies visiting from Connecticut on December 4. But when he went up to the bar at 11 p.m. to pay his tab, he started swaying.
"He buckled, wobbled, and then he fainted," said Rios, who said concerned staffers first thought he’d had too much to drink.
When they realized he was unconscious, they called 911. "All of a sudden they pull out the defibrillator," said Rios.
EMS staff performed CPR on the club's floor before rushing him to Bellevue Hospital, an FDNY spokesman said. He was later pronounced dead, Rios said.
"Then they informed us that he’d had a brain hemorrhage," Rios said.
While police said the tragedy could have happened anywhere at any time, Rios said it was a wake-up call. In addition to the training, the club has purchased a defibrillator, which they hope will arrive next week.
Rick's has also arranged to have CPR training given to managers at several of its clubs across the country, spokesman Allan Priaulx said.
"It was very informational. They covered a lot of stuff," Rios said.
