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10 poland firefighters cited for saving lives
POLAND
The Western Reserve Joint Fire District honored its own Saturday, including the 2015 Life Saving Award for five whose actions saved patients’ lives.
The recipients of the Life Saving Award are firefighter/emergency medical technician (EMT) Robert Clement; Suzanne Tucci, registered nurse and emergency medical responder (EMT); firefighter /EMT paramedic Abigail Cline; firefighter/EMT Steve Stilson; and Lieutenant/EMR John Walsh.
The Poland fire department instituted the award program in 2013 to recognize the hard work and contributions of some of its most dedicated members, said Tony Tucci, coordinator of Saturday’s event at Bogey’s Riverside Banquet Center in Lowellville.
Here is what they accomplished, according to the award:
On Feb. 2, 2015, Clement and Tucci responded to a call for an unresponsive female patient on New Castle Road and found the patient in a bathtub barely breathing. She was removed from the bathtub and went into cardiac arrest. Clement and Tucci initiated cardio-pulmonry resuscitation and applied automated external defibrillators. By the time an ambulance arrived, the patient had a pulse and was beginning to breathe on her own.
Without the direct efforts of Clement and Tucci the patient would have died, according to the award.
On April 30, 2015, Cline, Stilson and Walsh responded to a call for a nonbreathing male patient in his 50s at the High Point Church baseball field on Struthers Road. Team members employed advanced lifesaving techniques and continued CPR. The patient was shocked, opened his eyes and began breathing on his own and survived. Without the direct effort of Cline, Stilson and Walsh, the patient would have died.
Other 2015 awards recipients are:
Firefighter of the Year – firefighter/EMR Zach Whinery; Fire Officer of the Year – Lt./EMT David Chapman; EMS Provider of the Year – EMR Suzanne Tucci, RN; EMS Provider of the Year – Firefighter/ EMT-P Abigail Cline.
Personal Achievement Awards, one from each station, were presented to firefighter/EMR Scott O’Hara; firefighter Scott Christiansen; and firefighter/EMR Kyle Conklin.