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Heroes
City fire department honors those who
saved lives
BY PAT KIMBROUGH
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Four minutes.
That’s what High Point Fire Department Capt. Kevin Hauser, fire equipment
operator Chris Hendricks and firefighter Chip Jordan knew they had to work with
that day last October.
The three had been dispatched to a call that involved a 73-year-old man in
cardiac arrest. He was “clinically dead,” Hauser recalled, with no sign of a
pulse, and the fi refighters
knew from their training that the brain cells of patients in his position
start dying after about four minutes, which can lead to irreparable damage
and, eventually, death.
But the crew, using a de fi brillator
and CPR, was able to revive the man, who made a full recovery.
“I’ve been doing this 27 years, counting my volunteer experience, and this
is the second one I’ve personally been involved in where we got a (patient)
back that quickly – going from full arrest, no pulse, no breathing, to
starting CPR, shocking them and getting a pulse back to where they start
breathing on their own by the time the ambulance gets there,” said Hauser, a
15-year city fire department veteran. “He’s a lucky man.”
The three were among about 30 firefighters recognized recently with one of
the department’s 2006 medical lifesaving awards.
Firefi ghters are often
the first on the scene when someone calls 911 to report a cardiac-arrest or
trauma victim. They’re all certified EMTs, trained
to render emergency medical assistance. But they don’t always get the
results they want, especially in cases like the
HONORS, 2A
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