Minooka Fire Protection Crew Recognized for Heroic Life-Saving Work

One day you save a life, the next you are presented certificates and ribbons of commendation.

Ho hum?

Not at all. It’s why Michael Hermes (lieutenant), Donald Mefferd (lieutenant), Brian Mellen (firefighter/paramedic), Shawn Mowery (firefighter/paramedic) and Jason Stimac (firefighter/paramedic) serve for and are trained for as part of the Minooka Fire Protection District team.

The five were charged to answer a call of an unconscious male in cardiac arrest on May 5. And they saved him from dying.

“Upon arrival, paramedics determined the patient was not breathing and had no pulse,” Minooka Fire Protection District Chief Al Yancey Jr. said. “Crews immediately began working on the patient, administering CPR and treatment for cardiac arrest.

“The crew applied a cardiac monitor and delivered a shock. Upon reassessment, it was noted that the patient had a pulse and normal heart rhythm.”

Yancey said the patient started to breathe on his own while being transported to a local hospital. And that same patient—along with his family—was on hand when Yancey and Morris Hospital EMS System Coordinator Matt Callahan presented certificates and ribbons of commendation to Hermes, Mefferd, Mellen, Mowery and Stimac.

In addition, Yancey said the surviving patient presented his crew members with the Life Saving Ribbon.

“The patient expressed his appreciation to the crew for saving his life,” Yancey said. “The son of the patient expressed his appreciation to the paramedics for giving back their father. He said, ‘He was dead. I was thinking about his funeral as he lay there and now he is standing here with me today because of what you did.’ ”