Sanibel fire, police and county EMS receive Phoenix Award
The Sanibel Fire and Rescue District recently honored staff, as well as members of the Sanibel Police Department and Lee County Emergency Medical Services, with the prestigious Phoenix Award.
At the monthly fire commission meeting on May 12, eight first responders were recognized for their life-saving efforts on March 31 involving a 53-year-old man. At 4:40 a.m., the members from the three agencies responded to a call of a cardiac arrest at the West Wind Inn, at 3345 W. Gulf Drive, Sanibel.
Upon arrival, they found the patient unconscious and unresponsive, with no pulse and no signs of breathing. CPR was immediately started, along with advanced life support measures. The patient — a husband, father and doctor — regained a pulse and blood pressure and was transported to a hospital.
“He is still around because of what these guys did,” Division Chief of Training Tim Barrett said.
The Phoenix Award recognizes first responders who successfully bring back to life individuals who were in cardiac arrest and who make a full recovery from the incident, fire officials explained.
“The name for the Phoenix Award comes from the mythical bird that is reborn from its ashes unharmed,” Fire Chief William Briscoe said. “We are honored and privileged to present this award, as there is no higher award you can receive than knowing you truly did make a difference in a patient’s life.”
The recipients of the award were Sanibel fire Capt. Tom Tracy and firefighters Carl Johanson, Joe Nygaard and Edward Zarick, Sanibel police Lt. Elizabeth Buikema and officer James Serrago, and Lee County paramedic-firefighter Keith Lamb and EMT Breanne Rose Kelly.
“The reason that person is able to hug and kiss his loved ones is because of the integrated training and teamwork that these services provide together as one, no matter what patch we happen to be wearing,” Dr. Benjamin Abo, medical director for the Sanibel fire district, said. “We usually get paid not for what we do, but what we are prepared to do … and this is a wonderful example that has me proud of EMS, police and fire.”
Following the award ceremony, the commission continued on with its regular meeting.
Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Barbot provided an update on the new fire boat.
He reported that the crew-staffed committee overseeing the building and acquisition of the vessel recently held a Zoom meeting with the manufacturer and got to participate in a test drive of it.
“Everything did very well,” Barbot said. “We only found a couple of minor issues.”
This week, two crew members are expected to fly up for a final inspection.
“It sounds like we might be seeing it as early as in two weeks,” he said of when it may arrive.
Barbot also noted that the manufacturer may farm out the one-of-a-kind design to other agencies. One district staffer, Todd Walter, headed up the committee and designed the boat from the top on down.
Also at the meeting, Barrett reported that crews have been working on the Denver drill.
The training scenario was developed after Engineer Mark Langvardt with the fire department in Denver, Colorado, died in the line of duty. He and his crew responded to a commercial building fire on the second floor. While inside, he became separated from his crew due to the floor collapsing.
In an effort to escape, Langvardt found a window but was unable to escape. After repeated attempts from fellow firefighters, he eventually was rescued but later died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
“They created a drill on how to get a person out of that,” Barrett said of the training exercise.
He noted that two Sanibel staffers built a unit to replicate the scenario to train on.
“So we try to learn from others,” Barrett said.
Also during the meeting, Briscoe provided an update on ongoing projects.
He reported that he has provided a draft to the city outlining guidelines for the installation of recreational burn pits at residences. The regulations would stand in lieu of an open burning permit. Briscoe reiterated that monitoring and enforcing such a permit would be hard for the district.
He also presented the commission the updated fire plans review and inspections fee schedule anticipated to be presented for a vote at the July meeting. Briscoe and Division Chief of Prevention Larry Williams explained that it is based off of the Captiva fire district and rest of the county.
“Captiva’s in the same area of where we’re going with this,” Briscoe said.
“We’re still lower than a lot of them (area fire agencies), but we’re better than what we’ve got,” Williams added of the updated proposed fees.
IN OTHER NEWS
– The district responded to 149 calls in April, compared to 97 calls for the same month last year.
“We’re up 11 percent this year over last year,” Barbot said.