Members of the Greater Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums were called into action when a man suffered a medical emergency during the Squantum Fourth of July Parade in Quincy.
Steve Sweet is a Pipe Major with the band and a Quincy Firefighter. He said they just finished the parade when they heard yelling from a vehicle behind them.
“I thought somebody was under the truck, caught under a wheel, or something catastrophic of that nature was going on. We looked up into the cab and you could not see the driver,” said Sweet. “At this point, he was having a medical event and he was face-down in the steering wheel. Our guys immediately jumped into action. One of the guys jumped up inside the cab and pulled the maxi brake, put it in park, and shut the motor down.”
Within seconds, roughly 10 off-duty paramedics were on the scene, providing CPR to the man. Sweet says the man did not have a pulse.
A Quincy Fire Department engine was still on the parade route.
“An off-duty fireman, Brian Franklin from Quincy Fire, he commandeers a golf cart and races down the parade route, and grabbed the defibrillator from the truck,” said Sweet.
“The defibrillator was brought back, my guys put it on, they ended up administering two shocks,” he added. “An ambulance was en route. By the time the ambulance got there, my guys had him on a backboard. He was actually talking, conscious, and aware of where he was.”
The man was transported to a local hospital, but there was no update on his condition.
Sweet says initially, their band was set to be in a different location in the parade. They were initially behind a group of cars, and were moved to their new position.
“The guys did what they always do. They just went to work. Everybody did their part and it ended up being a great outcome. They saved that guy’s life,” said Sweet. “He couldn’t have been in a better spot other than in a hospital setting right there. It just shows training, good CPR, quick administering of the defib, and good EMS transport to a nearby facility.”
The Greater Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums band. Photo courtesy of the Friends Of Quincy Firefighters IAFF Local 792 on Facebook.
