A group of Florida firefighters recently saved one of their own when he suffered a cardiac arrest while exercising at their fire station.
WBBH reports that 47-year-old Lehigh Acres firefighter Rick Pride, a 13-year veteran, was getting in a workout on a treadmill at Fire Station 105 last week when he collapsed to the floor unresponsive.
"Our firefighters reacted very quickly that day, immediately going into emergency mode and starting to help him," said Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District Chief Robert DiLallo. "They did not give up. They worked him and worked him until they had a shockable rhythm."
Chief DiLallo says Pride regularly works out in the firehouse on a treadmill and that on the day of the incident, he had propped the exercise room door open with a weight to get some extra air—a decision which may have saved his life since his fellow firefighters might not have heard him collapse if the door were closed.
"He was very lucky," IAFF Local 1826 President J.P. Duncan said. "They were there for a reason, the crew was there for a reason, and it happened that day there for a reason."
Pride, a father and husband, remains hospitalized in serious condition but is recovering, and his crew members have been by his side around the clock since the incident.
"He's one of our key team members," Chief DiLallo said. "We're a family here. We work together."
