CRESTVIEW — To a standing ovation from a crowded city council chamber, two city firefighters received the Life Saving Medal Monday evening from Mayor David Cadle and Fire Chief Joe Traylor for saving the life of a senior citizen at a Crestview nursing facility.
Firefighters Paul Lewis and Paul Wojtowicz responded Feb. 4 to a cardiac arrest call at Silvercrest Manor on Brookmeade Drive near Public Safety Station 3. The patient was not breathing and had no pulse, according to the certificate of commendation accompanying the firefighters’ award.
The responders "assumed patient care from staff members," the certificate stated, and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, until an automatic external defibrillator that had been attached to the patient advised them to administer a shock to the woman. After two shocks and another round of CPR, the patient began to breathe and had a pulse.
The firemen worked with an Okaloosa County EMS crew to keep the patient alive until the EMTs transported her to North Okaloosa Medical Center.
"The quick actions and efforts" of the firemen "directly affected the outcome of this rescue operation," the certificate stated.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview firemen awarded Life Saving Medals for saving patient