Children's Hospital at Erlanger recognized several first responders for their heroic life-saving efforts on a recent medical call involving a small child. Lifesaving Awards were presented to members of Hamilton County EMS and the Chattanooga Fire Department. The Ladder 13 Blue Shift crew was honored during the ceremony, including Captain Al Walker, Lt. Jonathan Higgins, Senior Firefighter Evan Taylor and Senior Firefighter Jeffrey Hollis. On March 7, 2023, HCEMS and L13 responded to help a one-year-old child named Zakhi. They found Zakhi’s parents desperately doing CPR on their unresponsive, medically-complex child in the backseat of their car in a Burger King parking lot. Firefighters sprang into action to perform CPR and help clear the child’s trach ventilation tube. They did CPR until HCEMS arrived on site and further assisted with clearing the airway. Then both agencies assisted on the ride into Children’s Hospital at Erlanger. Thanks to their heroic efforts, Zakhi is doing well! His family was present for the special recognition on Friday and it meant a lot to the CFD and HCEMS crews to see him smiling!
“These first responders were facing insurmountable odds with a less than 5% chance of survival in situations like this,” said Dr. Marvin Culbertson with Pediatric Emergency Medicine. “But they’ve been trained on pediatric resuscitation and trach care. They knew what to do. They had no second chance or redo with this child. They had to get it right with this patient and they did. They successfully resuscitated the child and saved his life. Thank you all for what you do every day.”
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