Community Corner
For Stoneham First Responder, The Right Call Saved A Life
Fire Explorer saws all the signs of a stroke and his actions saved a woman.
On a recent Thursday night, Stoneham Fire Explorer Nick Heckman was at home after a long day. At around 9:30 pm Nick got an urgent text message from his friend Liz, stating that she was concerned about her mother, she went on to indicate that her mother was experiencing a sudden loss of vision, and was slurring her speech. Nick urged his friend to call 911, but she was reluctant to do so.
Fire Explorer Heckman, a recently certified First Responder, knew he needed to do more. While on his way to his friends house, he reached out to his First Responder instructor to help confirm his suspicions - his friends mom was displaying the classic signs of someone having a stroke. When Nick arrived at his friends house he called 911 and summoned the Paramedics. He monitored his friends mom closely until the Paramedics arrived.
The Paramedics arrived and quickly confirmed what Nick had feared. It appeared that his friends Mom was indeed having a stroke, and she was immediately transported by ambulance to the emergency room.
Nick brought his friend Liz to the hospital to be by her mom's side in the ER. While at the emergency room Nick was told by the emergency room staff that calling 911 without delay was the right thing to do, and that doing so likely saved his friend's mothers life.
When asked about the incident, Nick said, "That First Responder training really came in handy. As soon as I asked my friend her mom's symptoms, I knew I had to jump into action." Nick's friend Liz commented, "Once Nick got here he knew what he was doing...he really did help my mother out."
As a result of Nick's quick actions in recognizing the stroke and calling 911 right away, his friend's mother is expected to recover from the stroke.
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