WESTFIELD—Six firefighters received awards for their efforts in helping to save a life of a local man.
Westfield firefighters Connor Hedge, Niles Lavalley, Keith Lemon, Matt Marchesi and Jack Johnson, as well as Westfield fire Captain Paul Lentini each received prehospital save awards on Monday for work they did to help save the man’s life. The awards were given to them by the Western Mass. Emergency Medical Services (WMEMS) Committee, and were presented by the Westfield Fire Commission.
From left to right: Captain Paul Lentini, Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Kane, Jr., firefighters Niles Lavalley, Connor Hedge, Keith Lemon and Matt Marchesi. Photo credit to Westfield Fire Commission Chairman Albert Masciadrelli.
Johnson was not available for the presentation ceremony.
“It feels good to be recognized, but we’re not doing it for recognition,” Lentini said. “It puts it out there that what really helps is fast intervention.”
Lentini said that the incident that happened was on Toledo Ave., and initially came to the fire department as a car accident.
According to WWLP, Mark Stevens was driving his pickup truck with his wife in the passenger seat when, according to Lentini, he suffered a possible heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. Then Stevens’s wife was said to have then pulled the steering wheel and the vehicle crashed into a tree.
Lentini said that prior to the fire department personnel arriving on scene with an ambulance, Stevens was tended to by police and a bystander, Christina Lovelace. Lovelace was a school nurse in the area and received an award from the American Red Cross for her actions, as well.
After Lovelace and police began CPR and applied an AED, Westfield Fire Department’s ambulance arrived at the scene of the accident, taking over care of Stevens. They continued to provide CPR, defibrillation and medications Lentini said, and brought Stevens to Baystate Noble. By the time the ambulance arrived at Baystate Noble, Lentini said Stevens had regained a heartbeat.
And according to Lentini, Stevens not only survived, but “walked his daughter down the aisle three weeks later.”
But Lentini said that if it wasn’t for the bystanders and police who were there and who acted quickly, he and the other firefighters may not be getting recognition for saving the man’s life.
“Bystanders are the key, getting it moving,” he said. “Providing immediate intervention with CPR or an AED.”
The prehospital save awards that the fire personnel received are part of a growing effort by emergency services and WMEMS to recognize the efforts put forth by emergency responders. In order to receive the award personnel must be “directly responsible for maintaining or improving a patient’s condition in the prehospital setting. This action then allows the patient to lead a meaningful and productive post-incident life,” according to the WMEMS website. Providers are nominated by their employers and the WMEMS Awards Committee reviews each incident.
