Crime & Safety
Hinsdale Firefighters/Paramedics Receive Award for Saving a Man's Life
Hinsdale Adventist Hospital honors paramedics for helping to save a man's life on Thanksgiving Day
Talk to any working firefighter or paramedic and they will tell you, their jobs can quite often be heartbreaking. Their hard work, clinical expertise and timeliness doesn't always guarantee that they will save a life.
Fortunately, for four diligent Hinsdale firefighters/paramedics and police officer Jeff Huckfeldt, their immediate response and quick action tending to a heart attack victim last Thanksgiving Day, helped give an unresponsive man his life back.
Because of their heroic efforts, Hinsdale Adventist Hospital presented four of the men with a STEMI award for their outstanding service and timely clinical expertise. Don Newberry, Patrick Schaberg, Bill Claybrook and Lt. Jon Carlson, all of the Hinsdale Fire Department received the award Feb. 11.
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"Without the coordinated efforts of the police officer and the first paramedic on the scene, I don't the think the outcome would have been very good," said fellow firefighter and public information officer Steve Tullis. Tullis added, "That teamwork allowed the rest of our paramedics to get to the scene, assess the situation and continue stabilizing the patient."
Firefighter/paramedic Bill Claybrook, who arrived on the scene minutes after the first responders, said the situation was grim. "It was extremely serious. This was a full (cardiac) arrest. They (the first responders) had initiated CPR and they shocked the patient with the defibrillators and got him back to breathing."
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Claybrook added, " I helped to intubate the patient and along with the others we got him stabilized for transport to the hospital." Claybrook said while it is nice to be acknowledged for his efforts, everyone who worked that Thanksgiving Day call pitched in to save a life. "It really does take a team effort and I'm glad that everyone got recognized for each part they did."
The victim suffered what is referred to as a "STEMI", or a severe heart attack triggered by a prolonged period of blocked blood supply. Hospital officials say someone in this life-threatening situation could easily die if not given immediate medical attention. The patient was transported to Hinsdale hospital immediately after being stabilized by the paramedics, where he then spent a couple of weeks under treatment and observation before going home.