Cresson firefighters awarded for lifesaving efforts on stroke victim

CRESSON — For the second time in less than six weeks, the Chisholm Trail 100 Club recognized members of the Cresson Volunteer Fire Department for their efforts in saving the life of yet another individual.

On Nov. 10, Cresson Fire Department was dispatched to the intersection of U.S. Highway 377 and Goforth Road for a report of a male patient suffering a stroke in a vehicle.

Since other Cresson personnel were working a separate call for a lady in labor, firefighter Tristan Hesse and EMTs Richard Ward and John Carroll responded to the scene. While responding, information was relayed that the patient’s condition had deteriorated and CPR was being administered. Within three minutes of receiving this updated information, Hesse arrived at the location.

Hesse found a female in the driver’s seat of a vehicle attempting to perform CPR on a male in the front passenger’s seat. A second female, who subsequently identified herself as the patient’s wife and a registered nurse of some 45 years of experience, was in the back seat. The patient’s wife informed Hesse that her husband was pulseless and not breathing. Hesse confirmed the patient was pulseless and not breathing and began administering CPR. Within a couple of minutes of CPR from Hesse, the patient began to breathe on his own and a pulse was reestablished.

Cresson EMTs Ward and Carroll provided supportive care within minutes of the patient regaining a pulse until a LifeCare EMS ambulance arrived. The patient began to regain consciousness and was later transported to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in downtown Fort Worth.

The patient’s wife informed Cresson Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ron Becker that the patient made a full recovery with no neurological deficits from this incident and has been released from the hospital to a rehab facility. She told Becker that she is convinced, based on her many years of experience as a nurse, that the CPR her husband received from Cresson firefighters saved her husband’s life.

“With only a 4-6-minute window to regain circulation on a pulseless patient to prevent neurological damage or death, the fast and skilled response of Hesse, Ward and Carroll contributed to a successful outcome for this patient,” Becker wrote on the Lifesaver Award nomination form. “Firefighters Jacob Mercer, Layton Thompson and Dakota Hoes arrived in Cresson’s rescue truck, bringing and deploying the necessary lifesaving equipment. Since this incident was reported to be on a busy highway, (Lieutenants) Jonathan Davis and firefighter/EMT Gerry Mercer blocked traffic with a large Cresson fire apparatus to provide a safe work area for other responders. Capt. Ian Shelly and Lt. Blake Martin controlled, organized and stabilized an initially chaotic scene.”

On Dec. 1, the Cresson firefighters involved in saving the life of the patient were presented with a LifeSaver clock symbolizing time, and a lapel pin.

“This department has been phenomenal over the last two and a half years since we started giving these awards,” said Cara Ellison, executive director for the Chisholm Trail 100 Club. “It's phenomenal the number of times we've been privileged to present to this department. I think that's a huge testimony to what each and every one of you do as a team. I truly believe — and I tell chief this all the time — I know God placed you right here in Cresson, Texas for a reason, and those names and those dates on those clocks are truly representative of what you guys do and why God has you here, so thank you very much for what you do.”

“We are proud of each of you and say, ‘Thank you’ for your continued service to the community and its residents and those that pass through your jurisdiction,” said Tom Cowan, chairman of the awards committee for the Chisholm Trail 100 Club. “All of us in public safety, this is our job. This is what we do. We don't think anything about it. But to the rest of the community, to the families of the victims, to the victims themselves, and to the general public to our communities, these guys really are heroes. It is true not all heroes wear capes.”

Originally, the wife of the patient and her companion were invited to attend the ceremony, but were unable to come due to contracting COVID-19.

Becker stated that the wife of the patient asked him to express her “extreme, heartfelt gratitude,” for the efforts made by the Cresson Volunteer Fire Department.

"She told me something that she wanted me to say to you verbatim, and I will do my best to do that,” Becker said. “She lives in a suburb over here in Fort Worth that has a fire department that is proud of the fact that they transitioned from a volunteer department to a paid department. Without naming the department, she said to make sure and tell you guys that, ‘They make my fire department look like it's only using training wheels,’ — that's what I was instructed to tell you guys.”

Becker added that the American Heart Association states that the odds of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac or respiratory arrest is about 10%.

"Right now, over the past year or two on the type of calls that we've had — we've had some that we weren't able to resuscitate — but we're running more like 60% to 70% (that we’ve saved),” he added. “So, I think it's a testament to the folks in this room that when the bell rings, they go.”