MCFRS News Release

Heart Attack Victim Reunion with First Responders Following Dramatic Ride to Hospital During the Height of the Washington Metropolitan Area’s Paralyzing Snowstorm

Monday, February 7, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.
Station 23, 121 Rollins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland

Rockville, MD - - -  Montgomery County Fire Chief Richard Bowers and rescuers from Station 23 will meet the patient transported to Suburban Hospital aboard a Montgomery County Fire Engine in an urgent effort to save his life. As motorists in the metropolitan area sat gridlocked in traffic caused by the powerful rush-hour snowstorm, fast-thinking fire department and EMS personnel were improvising ways to expedite transport of the critically-ill patient to the closest hospital as they navigated the treacherous roads. 

Chief Bowers is extremely proud of the department’s response in such challenging and unpredictable situations. “Our personnel train hard in every rescue discipline and always do a great job of thinking on their feet. The odds of surviving a cardiac arrest decline as minutes go by without effective CPR and treatment. At a time when there were a multitude of incidents occurring simultaneously around the County, a life was saved due to four-person staffing which provided a fourth critical member, a medic, aboard the Fire Engine allowing it to serve as a medic unit. Quite simply, without this highly skilled pre-hospital care, we would not be here today to personally meet this County resident or talk about a great save.”

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