10 first responders who officials say seamlessly worked together as a team to save the life of a Round Lake Beach resident who stopped breathing have been honored.
The Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District last week presented life-saver challenge coins to CenCom E-911 Telecommunicator Tia Chinn, Round Lake Beach police officers Dave Duncan, Tim Zornow and Sgt. Ken Lupi, and fire department members Andrew Wells, Wally Madsen, Chris Danesi, Tyler Newquist, Jeff Fanning and Eric Beck.
The 10 of them worked together as a “seamless team” to save the life of an area resident who experienced a sudden cardiac arrest, fire officials said.
“We’re honored to have each of these individuals serving the communities we protect!” the fire district said.
Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Eric Hair said the seamless medical response led to a positive patient outcome.
“I think a lot of people don’t fully comprehend the role that our dispatchers and police officers can play in response to medical emergencies,” Hair said.
Hair said he did not want to downplay the “extraordinary care” that his paramedics and EMTs provided on the call but that the initial emergency medical dispatch information that was provided by the 911 dispatcher and the early CPR provided by the police officers who arrived prior to paramedics made a significant impact in the victim’s survival.
“It’s this type of team effort that leads to positive patient outcomes every day across the country,” Hair said.