Title
Congratulations to the Coral Gables Fire Department Rescue crews recognized for an outstanding lifesaving response to a medical emergency involving a female patient in cardiac arrest.
Body
On July 19, 2016 at approximately 2:00 p.m., Rescue 2 (Lt. John Perrotti, FF John Jensen, and FF Chris Butler) and Hose 2 (Lt. Jim Dolan, FF Chris Crespo, FF Tristan Bittschwan, FF Ishmael Roig) responded to a 59 year old female patient in cardiac arrest at a doctor’s office. Upon arrival CPR was being performed by the doctor’s office staff. Lt. Perrotti and his crew confidently gained control over the patient’s airway and proceeded with advanced treatments. After a rapid defibrillation of the patient using a cardiac monitoring defibrillator, they were able to successfully resuscitate the patient to the point that the patient started breathing on her own. The patient went from being pulseless to speaking to the crew by the time they reached the hospital. The survivor, Ms. Karen Sunderland, was very appreciative of the crews’ aggressive response, determination and expertise, and expressed her desire to recognize the crews at a Commission Meeting.
This happy outcome was absolutely influenced and made possible by the caring, professionalism, and teamwork put forth by Police Officers Rhonda Jenkins and Raymond McCalla who were instrumental in assisting Rescue 2 and Hose 2 at the scene. We are grateful for our Fire Rescue crews and Police Officers who represented their departments well at this incident and had a direct impact in saving a life.