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Hazelwood Presents Life-Saving Awards For Heroic Efforts of City Lifeguards
Special to The Independent News
Elected officials, city management staff, employees and residents of the City of Hazelwood gathered Aug. 2 at a City Council meeting to honor “ten brave individuals whose heroic actions clearly saved a life,” according to Hazelwood Fire Chief Dave Herman.
These individuals have been working as lifeguards at Hazelwood’s White Birch Bay Aquatic Center and allowed their certified training to kick in to save the life of 68-year-old grandmother Martha Timblin who went into cardiac arrest on July 18th during the heat wave in St. Louis.
The following Hazelwood lifeguards were honored:
Anne Fitzgerald, for saving the life of the victim; Juliana Giesler, for saving the life of the victim; Aquatic Supervisor Travis Vancil, for saving the life of the victim; Elizabeth Schneider, for saving the life of the victim; Shelby Croghan, for saving the life of the victim; Halle Durand, for assisting with the life-saving efforts; Zack Taylor, for assisting with the lifesaving efforts; Alexandra Boyd, for assisting with the life-saving efforts; Zack Komm, for assisting with the life-saving efforts; and Ke’Aira Robinson, for assisting with the life-saving efforts.
In addition, several other key players will be in attendance. The woman who was the cardiac arrest victim was present to say “thank you” to everyone for saving her life. One of Hazelwood’s Firefighter/Paramedics, Capt. Veronica Dolan, who responded to the Emergency 911 call, stabilized the woman and transported her to the hospital, will make an appearance. And, the SSM Health DePaul Medical Center ER physician who treated the woman when she was admitted to the hospital will be there.
The purpose of this “Life-Saving Award” is to recognize an employee of the City of Hazelwood for performing an exemplary act, which results in the preservation of a human life. It must be beyond doubt the person saved would have perished without the employees actions.
Anne Fitzgerald, a swim lesson coordinator, is the primary figure who first noticed the woman passed out in a chair on the upper deck facing the competition pool. Anne ran up to the victim and found her unresponsive and hanging off the side of the pool chair. Alexandrea Boyd ran to call 911. Zack Komm took the victim’s grandson, who was taking a swim lesson, to another part of the facility away from the situation and kept him calm.
Juliana Gieser and Halle Durand rushed to assist Anne. The three of them carefully laid the woman flat on the ground, next to her pool chair. Anne checked her pulse and found no pulse with agonal breathing. At this point, Anne began compressions.
Hazelwood’s Aquatic Supervisor Travis Vancil brought over the AED and Elizabeth Schneider had the crash bag. Several other lifeguards ran over to help with setting up the AED and attaching the BVM to the mask. Travis Vancil, Elizabeth Schneider and Shelby Croghan administered breaths using a mask and the BVM. Halle Durand and Ke’Aira Robinson set up the AED and attached the pads.
The Firefighter/Paramedics stabilized the victim and then transported her to the ER at SSM Health DePaul Medical Center. The lifeguards watched over the grandson in the pool with a police officer on site until his parents arrived.
