Station 3 city’s 1st to earn ‘Cardiac Save’

At a ceremony March 5, Fire Station 3 became the first in Colorado Springs to have the new “Cardiac Save” insignia placed on one of its trucks. Shortly after the "Cardiac Save" insignia was un-veiled on Station 3's Engine 3 March 5, City Fire Chief Rich Brown talked about its meaning. Westside Pioneer photo        Depicting a heart with the monitor sign of a heartbeat, the insignia (which can now be seen on the side of Engine 3) reflects the priority that the Colorado Springs Fire Department gives to aiding people who have cardiac arrests, explained Fire Chief Rich Brown. Listening during the "Cardiac Save" ceremony March 5 is Fire Station 3's C-shift team that saved a man's life last month (from left) Mitch Rowley, Jeremy Kroto, Mark Sperry and Lt. Dave Novatny. Westside Pioneer photo        He cited a specific incident Feb. 3, when the station's C-shift was called to a parking lot where a 56-year-old man had fallen to the pavement and stopped breathing, despite efforts by Good Samaritan citizens to perform CPR. Following their training and using a portable electronic device called an automated external defibrillator (AED - used for monitoring patients and giving them shock therapy, as needed), the four-member team was able to restore the victim's heartbeat. As a result, Brown said, “someone is back to being a living, breathing adult.”        Other top City Fire Department officials who participated in the ceremony at the station, 922 W. Colorado Ave., were Tommy Smith, deputy chief of support services; and Steve Dubay, deputy chief of operations.        The C-shift members are Lieutenant Dave Novatny, firefighter Mitch Rowley, paramedic Jeremy Kroto and driver Mark Sperry.        According to department city-wide figures, an average of a call a day comes in for a cardiac arrest, and the victim's life is saved an average of 15 percent of the time.        Under the new Fire Department policy, the Cardiac Saves insignia will be awarded from now on to any station that is able to bring a patient back the way Fire Station 3's group did.        When it was suggested to Novatny that as a result, all the stations in town will eventually earn the insignia, he replied, “We hope.” A close-up of the station's automated external defibrillator (AED), which is used to monitor cardiac victims and apply aid. Westside Pioneer photo Westside Pioneer article