OGDEN — The Ogden Fire Department was thanked in person earlier this month by a California man who was saved by an emergency response team after suffering a potentially fatal cardiac event.
Cy Bruno and his wife, Machone, were visiting Utah in July 2013 to check up on their new home in Eden when Cy began displaying symptoms of a dangerously irregular heartbeat known as cardiac arrhythmia.
Paramedics rushed to the scene, where they stabilized Bruno and later transported him to the hospital.
The couple visited the fire department on Oct. 16 to express their appreciation and interact with the paramedics, dispatchers and drivers who had saved them from tragedy.
"The couple enjoyed a lunch prepared by the firefighters, a tour of the Weber Area Dispatch 911 Center and a ride around the city in the ladder truck," said Deputy Chief Eric Bauman in a press release. "But most importantly, it gave the dispatchers, firefighters and paramedics and the Brunos a chance to meet each other and share their wonderful stories together."
Bruno is now fully recovered from his severe heart condition, Bauman reported.
"It was an honor and a pleasure to meet the Brunos and see the positive impact that our Dispatch Center and (Emergency Medical Services) system has in our community," Bauman said. "(We) feel fortunate to have had such a positive impact in their lives."
Bauman praised the dispatch center, which takes more than 1,000 calls per day and processes emergency responses in an average of 20 seconds. Nationally, the standard for call processing time is 60 seconds.
"In Mr. Bruno’s case, the call processing time was 29 seconds," Bauman said. "This translates directly to units arriving on scene and providing care faster."
Dispatchers, paramedics and hospital workers work under unrelenting pressure to ensure residents receive emergency care as rapidly as possible, he said.
"Without the incredible efficiency of the dispatch center, the commitment to gold-standard pre-hospital care of the paramedics and the expertise of the emergency room physicians and cardiologists, the system would fail," Bauman said.
Contact reporter Ben Lockhart at 801-625-4221 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @SE_Lockhart. Like his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/blockhartSE.
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