Hopedale Fire Dept. Staff Recognized For Lifesaving Efforts Schrafft, Sherens, and Sweet honored
By Theresa Knapp
At a Hopedale Select Board meeting on Oct. 10, three firefighters were honored for their heroism in recent weeks, having saved two patients in a 10-day period.
In a letter to the board dated Sept. 26, Fire Chief Thomas Daige said, “I wanted to make you and the board aware of two life-saving events that took place over the past 10 days where the on-duty firefighters had been called to a scene where they needed to be absolutely perfect with every decision they made and treatment they delivered in order to have a successful patient outcome.”
Responding to the first call were paramedics Peter Schrafft and David Shearns.
Daige explained that a patient was weak and passing out. “The fire department members arrived within five minutes and found that the patient had a heart rate in the20s and, as confirmed by the Emergency Room Physician, death was imminent. The members performed their job to perfection, the patient’s condition was stabilized, and they were then transported to a hospital in Worcester. The patient was kept at the Hospital for only a few days before being discharged.”
Responded to the second call were paramedic David Sherens and Firefighter/EMT Casey Sweet.
Daige said this involved “a middle-aged male who was found unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse. Again, the two on-duty members were on scene within three minutes and performed flawlessly and were able to restore the patient’s pulse and breathing prior to leaving the scene. The patient regained consciousness in the emergency room and was discharged to his home two days later.”
In his letter, Chief Daige said, “I write this as a Chief proud of the work his members do daily, but also to shine light on the job we perform and the positive outcome that is possible when members are in the building to respond quickly, trained to the highest level of care and not overworked, tired and unable to make sound decisions quickly and decisively. Every time the two on-duty firefighters go out on a call, I hold my breath hoping that calls like the ones mentioned above don’t come in where the response and care are delayed by having to wait for off-duty and call members or a mutual aid ambulance to respond.”
Select Board member Scott Savage said, “Excellent job guys, I really appreciate the work you guys do and all the efforts you have; it probably goes unrecognized too often in this community and others. This is a great opportunity to shine light on what you do every day, not to this extent hopefully that often, but you came through and there’s two people here who owe their lives to you gentlemen so thank you very much.”
Source: bit.ly/HFDrecog10102023
At a Hopedale Select Board meeting on Oct. 10, three firefighters were honored for their heroism in recent weeks, having saved two patients in a 10-day period.
In a letter to the board dated Sept. 26, Fire Chief Thomas Daige said, “I wanted to make you and the board aware of two life-saving events that took place over the past 10 days where the on-duty firefighters had been called to a scene where they needed to be absolutely perfect with every decision they made and treatment they delivered in order to have a successful patient outcome.”
Responding to the first call were paramedics Peter Schrafft and David Shearns.
Daige explained that a patient was weak and passing out. “The fire department members arrived within five minutes and found that the patient had a heart rate in the20s and, as confirmed by the Emergency Room Physician, death was imminent. The members performed their job to perfection, the patient’s condition was stabilized, and they were then transported to a hospital in Worcester. The patient was kept at the Hospital for only a few days before being discharged.”
Responded to the second call were paramedic David Sherens and Firefighter/EMT Casey Sweet.
Daige said this involved “a middle-aged male who was found unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse. Again, the two on-duty members were on scene within three minutes and performed flawlessly and were able to restore the patient’s pulse and breathing prior to leaving the scene. The patient regained consciousness in the emergency room and was discharged to his home two days later.”
In his letter, Chief Daige said, “I write this as a Chief proud of the work his members do daily, but also to shine light on the job we perform and the positive outcome that is possible when members are in the building to respond quickly, trained to the highest level of care and not overworked, tired and unable to make sound decisions quickly and decisively. Every time the two on-duty firefighters go out on a call, I hold my breath hoping that calls like the ones mentioned above don’t come in where the response and care are delayed by having to wait for off-duty and call members or a mutual aid ambulance to respond.”
Select Board member Scott Savage said, “Excellent job guys, I really appreciate the work you guys do and all the efforts you have; it probably goes unrecognized too often in this community and others. This is a great opportunity to shine light on what you do every day, not to this extent hopefully that often, but you came through and there’s two people here who owe their lives to you gentlemen so thank you very much.”
Source: bit.ly/HFDrecog10102023
