This afternoon a few South Montgomery County Firefighters were treated to live music from Mr. Robert Shepard. This was not the first time these crews had met him, though this was the first time he has spoken with them. On the morning of April 1st, 2015 Mr. Shepard had arrived at work when he became ill. A little while later coworkers knew something was wrong and contacted 911. Station 11-1 responded along with Montgomery County Hospital District M22. In the 4 minutes it… took for the emergency responders to arrive, co-workers had determined that Mr. Shepard had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and were now performing life saving CPR. The crews from SMCFD and MCHD continued the care already begun at the workplace. After continuous CPR and advanced life support from MCHD, crews were able to restore a pulse to Mr. Shepard. He was then transported to the ER were he continued to receive care for over a week before being released.
Mr. Shepard wanted to express his thanks to those responsible for giving him a second chance at life. It was emotional at times while each rescuer told their story of that call. SMCFD was glad to be part of this chain of survival and appreciate the opportunity to meet Mr. Shepard and see the positive outcome our being here for the community has had on him and his family and would like to recognize Lt Justin Copeland, E/O Wes Baker, E/O Aaron Steely, E/O Chris Watson, FF Joe Stan and FF Matt Sharpe for a job well done on this response, with a survival rate of less than 10% for all patients who experience sudden cardiac arrest this was a special reunion for Mr. Shepard as well as our crews.
