The St. Paul Police Department’s central district chief is crediting and thanking fellow officers for saving his life during a heart attack.

For all the emergencies he’s seen in some 30 years on the job, Central District Chief Jeff Stiff never expected to face one of his own.

He had just wrapped up his morning workout and was sitting in his office, working on gang investigations, when he felt an unusual pain in his chest.

“I thought, ‘Oh, I must’ve drank a coffee too fast or I must’ve done something,'” said Stiff.

Tim Flynn, the deputy chief of Support Services with the St. Paul Police Department, had a gut feeling something wasn’t right when he saw the door closed and blinds drawn.

“Jeff’s always got an open door people revolve in and out of his office,” Flynn said. “I told the sergeant to look under his window shade there and see what’s going on and he looked under and he said, ‘Well, he’s on his back.'”

He was shocked to find his coworker with his skin turning gray and struggling to breathe. He knew he had to rush him over to Regions Hospital.

“One of the nurses came out, looked at me and said, ‘You need to call his wife, he’s having a heart attack,'” said Flynn.

Stiff’s coronary artery was 100% blocked, so doctors put in an emergency stent and he’s now basically back to normal.

“It was immediate relief,” said Stiff.

The district chief’s heart attack led to amped-up screenings at the St. Paul Police Department, with their foundation now paying for heart scans for officers over the age of 40.

Studies have shown law enforcement is at a heightened cardiovascular risk. The average age for a heart attack in the U.S. is 65 but for police it’s 46.

“The statistics are out there that law enforcement as a career you don’t live very long and we’re trying to change that,” added Flynn.

Stiff says his police brothers became his heroes for having the heart to check on him at the moment he needed it most.

“There’s a special group of people that work here,” Stiff said. “I’m just fortunate.”