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It happened suddenly on Saturday: An employee working at a wedding on the 17th floor of the Omni William Penn Hotel collapsed from a cardiac arrest.

A cardiologist at the wedding began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Meanwhile, security at the Downtown hotel rushed to the lobby and returned with the automatic external defibrillator that had been installed the day before.

The briefcase-sized device shocked the man's heart back to a sufficient beat and saved his life. He is expected to make a full recovery.

"It worked great. The security department staff responded really well," said John Scanga, director of security at the hotel. "More and more buildings should have these devices. We're looking to get a second one."

The device used at the hotel was one of the first placed by a new initiative announced Thursday to get 1,000 AEDs in buildings throughout Western Pennsylvania in the next three years.

The initiative -- called PULSE: Pittsburgh United for Life-Saving Emergencies -- grew from the merger of two similar programs. The St. Margaret Foundation has installed 265 AEDs since 1998, and the Laurel and Colcom foundations have placed 235 devices in buildings since 2002. The groups credit the devices with saving 34 lives.

"About 400 sudden cardiac arrests occur in Pittsburgh every year," said Matt Hughes, executive director of the St. Margaret Foundation. "Without CPR, the survival rate is only 5 to 7 percent. Today's announcement ... saves dramatically more people -- north of 15 percent."

PULSE will provide Powerheart AED G3 Automatic models, valued at $2,500 each. They turn on automatically when the outside case is opened. A calm, computerized voice talks the user through the entire process, from calling 911 to attaching the two defibrillation pads to the victim. The machine automatically analyzes the heart's rhythm to determine if it needs to be shocked.

In addition to providing the free devices to public buildings in Allegheny and 10 surrounding counties, PULSE aims to train more than 9,000 people in how to use them and perform CPR, said Dave Bianco, director of the program and paramedic coordinator of UPMC St. Margaret Paramedic Response Team.

"If there is one thing I want to say to people about this program, it is: Help us help ordinary people help emergency medical services personnel save lives," he said.

Ken Balkey, 56, of Churchill, said he is living testament that cardiac arrests can happen to anyone. Nine years ago he was a healthy man who had run in Pittsburgh's Great Race every year since it started. He was visiting UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland for an outpatient procedure when he collapsed. A nurse began CPR and staff members used an AED to revive him.

"They saved my life," he said. "From a community standpoint, having the defibrillator available is a pretty good insurance policy."