GENESEE AND WYOMING COUNTIES/Off duty or retired, firefighters and EMT’s are never off the clock, two City firefighters revive woman who was overdosing

Story and photo submitted by Tom Douglas

On 9/16 Retired Captain Greg Shilvock and myself were boating on Silverlake with our wives. When we were done boating, we went to Perry to take our wives out for dinner.

While we were at the salad bar, one of the staff came running out of the lady’s room and went into the kitchen and told staff to call 9-1-1. As he left the kitchen and ran back towards the lady’s room I asked him if he needed help. He said a women was unresponsive on the floor an not breathing. I identified Greg and myself as City of Batavia Fire Department firefighters and offered to help. He accepted and asked if we would do CPR. We followed him into the bathroom and found an cyanotic female on the floor. He said she was a diabetic on an insulin pump that was giving her problems.

I quickly assessed her. She was unresponsive to pain. She had a carotid pulse, but had agonal/snoring respiration’s at 3 to 4 times a minute. I checked her pupils which were pinpoint. I yelled to my wife to see if my Narcan was in my truck and Greg said his kit was in his vehicle which he immediately dashed out and grabbed. I positioned her airway and surveyed the scene. The staff, who made us aware of the woman, told us she had been on break a really long time and he checked on her in the bathroom. He broke open the stall door when she didn’t respond and placed her on the floor.

I surveyed the stall and found and secured suspected drug paraphernalia.

Greg returned and helped get the nasal Narcan kit ready. I administered the nasal Narcan and within 15-20 seconds she started to respond. Her breathing increased and her cyanosis disappeared. She was originally combative, which wore off as she awoke more. She blamed it on diabetes and insulin, but I informed her that’s didn’t give any sugar. I told her she was only a few minutes away from death. A couple of minutes later she was sitting up and the Perry Police arrived with a Narcan kit in hand.

A few minutes later, Perry Volunteer ambulance arrived on scene and then Monroe Ambulance, providing ALS. No further treatment was rendered and the female was transported to the hospital alert and in stable condition.

As I was talking to one of the Perry ambulance crew, he identified himself as one of the Rural Police Training Institute cadets that I had taught EMS to the previous year and now was in Perry FD and a Perry Police Officer.

The reason Greg had a Narcan kit on him was that when we teach our firefighters CME Training for their EMT certification we include the Narcan Training . We have LPCCN provide our fire fighters and the Rural police Cadets with the training and they all receive their own personal Narcan kits for emergencies like this.

As we all know fire and police are never off duty even if they are retired.

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