SOUTHWICK – The Southwick Fire Department (SFD) has three new volunteers, one of which has already proved she is ready for the job.
The Southwick Select Board approved the appointment of Jeffrey Hitchborn, who is interested in becoming a firefighter, and Katie O’Meara and Christine Shore, who are both currently enrolled in the Emergency Medical Technician course at Westfield State University. And although Shore has not graduated, she had the opportunity last week to show her skills and helped save a life.
Shore was working at Westfield Gage when a 53 year-old man went into cardiac arrest. The police and SFD were called to the scene and when they arrived, Shore and a co-worker, who is a Huntington firefighter, were performing CPR.
“The police officer took over, then I came and helped him use the defibrillator,” said Fire Chief Richard Anderson.
Anderson said the man suffered a massive myocardial infarction and stopped breathing.
“We shocked him four times,” said Anderson.
He began breathing and was taken to the hospital by Westfield ambulance.
“He was talking in the ambulance,” said Anderson.
Anderson said police officers Michael Westcott and Michael Taggart assisted at the scene and everyone there played a role in bringing the victim back to life, especially Shore and her co-worker.
“These two people gave really affective CPR – we would never have been able to save him without that,” Anderson said, adding this was not the first time the SFD saved a resident this year.
“I am very proud to report we’ve had four saves this year,” he said.
Anderson attributed the saves to a dedicated group of volunteers and the addition of daytime full-time EMT staff.
“By having a full-time day staff, we’ve cut our response time in half,” Anderson said. “We are also training with the police department so we are all on the same page.
“Everybody is working together, we have good equipment and it’s paying off. We’re doing something right.”
With the three newly appointed members of the SFD, the total number of staff is now 45.
“We are always looking for volunteers,” Anderson said. “We have a couple more applications and I always want more.”
