When Arlington Firefighters saved two people suffering from cardiac arrest in two different instances on the very same day a while back, Fire Battalion Chief David Stapp was stunned, saying, "You would have a hard time finding something like that occurring in any department, anywhere."
So what about three?
Stapp, who oversees medical operations, said he's beyond proud of how his firefighters responded on April 15 when they saved not one or two - but three people during three separate calls, and all from different units.
The first happened in the morning after units responded to a report of a man who collapsed after experiencing chest pains. While responders were enroute, the 911 Call Taker initiated "hands only CPR" instructions with two bystanders who had witnessed the collapse.
Upon arrival, crews discovered the bystanders performing compression-only "CPR" on the man with no pulse. "The crews worked seamlessly and efficiently to continue quality compressions and full ALS care, including defibrillation," beamed Stapp.
Later that afternoon, a 41-year-old man was found hanging in his garage. Again crews dispatched there discovered two bystanders performing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth ventilations with a pulse, but not breathing. Shortly after ventilating the patient, he went into cardiac arrest, Stapp said. The crews initiated full ALS care, saving the man's life.
It wasn't over. That evening, firefighters were called after a man collapsed. As soon as they arrived on the scene, he was in cardiac arrest. Once again, crews leaped into action, working feverishly on the man to initiate full ALS care including early defibrillation.
While "somewhat stunned" at the number of cardiac arrests in one day, Chief Stapp was hardly surprised at how his firefighters responded.
"We have an aggressive program dealing with CPR and cardiac arrests," he said. "We're on the leading edge of training here, and the results have shown that. We've been having very good results."
So good, in fact, that the Arlington Fire Department's cumulative "save" rates on victims suffering from cardiac arrests is so high that it ranks as "one of the best in the country," Stapp said.
"That's certainly something to be proud of," he said. "But the main thing is that the people we attempted to save were saved. "
One of those people, Raymond Skipwith, who was helped after experiencing chest pains, attended the ceremony Tuesday during the council meeting to personally thank the firefighters.
"To have one of the survivors there just made this recognition that much better," said Stapp.
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