Concord Fire Honors Three NH Hospital Staffers

Officials from the bestowed three Helping Hands Awards to three New Hampshire Hospital staffers on April 19, for the heroic efforts to help save a co-worker's life in June 2011.

Frank Harris, the chief of the New Hampshire Hospital Campus Police, and Nurse Coordinators Anita Downs and Justin Souther were each given the awards for assisting in basic life support before fire and rescue teams arrived at the scene. The man, according to officials, was in a state of cardiac arrest when the staffers implemented CPR, a defibrillator, and worked together to keep the patient alive.

“The call for help is not something that they get everyday,” noted Bob McLeod, CEO of New Hampshire Hospital. “But their response is so remarkable, it’s almost like it is second nature to them. Their efforts were so precise that the bleak emergency of the event turned into a happy ending.”

McLeod said the employees told him that they were just glad to be able to help the co-worker. He called them three of the finest people anyone would want to meet and said they exemplified state service showing off “the quality and dedication of the people who work and serve others.”

Deputy Chief Sean Toomey said the awards were being given out to three fine individual that had helped another person and helped the fire department too, by preparing the man before they arrived. The patient made a full recovery and returned to work just two weeks later, he said.

“The actions of these staff members exemplified teamwork and appropriate delivery of CPR,” he said. “With them, this patient most certainly would have perished.”

Every year, the Concord Fire Department awards community members who have acted valiantly the Helping Hand Awards.