Crime & Safety
Berkeley Firefighter-Paramedics Honored With Siren Award
Berkeley and Albany firefighters and paramedics collaborated to rescue a victim of cardiac arrest.
Berkeley firefighter-paramedics Robert Lawrence and Jonathan Fischer received a Siren Award yesterday from the Alameda County Emergency Medical Services Agency. They were recognized together with Albany firefighters John Weitzel, Dustin Wiggins, Jim Deroque, and Bill Dennehy for their joint efforts in resuscitating a cardiac arrest victim on February 5, 2011.
The Siren Award, given once yearly during Emergency Medical Services week, recognizes individuals or teams who perform exceptional or heroic actions or demonstrate exemplary teamwork.
On February 5, 2011, a woman went into cardiac arrest outside the Albany YMCA. With its only ambulance already out on another call, Albany asked Berkeley’s Station One for mutual aid.
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Albany firefighters arrived first at the scene, followed closely by the ambulance team from Station One. Robert Lawrence, who drove the ambulance, said having direct communication with Albany Fire Department was crucial. “We heard them give updates,” he said, as they drove to the scene.
On Albany’s sometimes narrow streets, a fire engine can obstruct an entire block, said Lawrence, so having a strategy for driving in and out of a location can cut minutes off of response times. “Our on-scene time was really really short,” said Lawrence, about the call.
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The patient was receiving bystander CPR when Lawrence and Fischer arrived. After a pulse was re-established, Berkeley’s ambulance team transported the patient to Summit Hospital in Oakland, where she survived. The fire department could not release the patient’s name.
The Siren Award was presented at a luncheon yesterday in Oakland. In addition, Berkeley Firefighter-Paramedic Kristen Tucker was recognized as Berkeley’s Paramedic of the Year. Tucker was nominated by her peers and supervisors for her eleven years of providing care and volunteering for additional responsibilities, according to information provided by Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong.
May 15th to May 21st is Emergency Medical Services (EMS) week.
Have stories about a rescue that you’d like to share? Tell us in the comments.
