March 2021 Call of the Month

March 2021
Call of the Month

Metro Paramedic Employees assigned to the North Park Fire Protection District were dispatched for a water rescue for a report of a drowning victim.

During weekday time staffing hours, North Park is staffed by a three-person engine company and one ambulance staffed with a full-time Metro Paramedic employee and a part-time EMT-Basic. The engine was also staffed by two Metro Paramedic employees, Deputy Chief Andy Schroeder and Matthew Hehn. Metro’s paramedic for this call was Tyler Thiessen and the EMT-Basic was Nicholas Luebke.

Deputy Chief Paramedic Andy Schroeder
Deputy Chief Paramedic Andy Schroeder
Captain EMT Matthew Hehn
Captain EMT Matthew Hehn
Firefighter/Paramedic Tyler Thiessen
Firefighter/Paramedic Tyler Thiessen
Lieutenant EMT Nicholas Luebke
Lieutenant EMT Nicholas Luebke

While en route to the call, dispatch advised responding companies that the victim was now underwater and no longer coming up. On arrival to the call, both Matthew Hehn and Tyler Thiessen were in submersion suits and in the water within a matter of minutes. Within 12 minutes of time of call and just seven minutes after arriving on scene, paramedic Thiessen found the victim and rescued the victim from the water.

The victim was taken to the ambulance where care was started for cold water drowning by Metro’s Medic Firefighters. Within 32 minutes of arriving on scene, the victim was arriving at the ER, and care was transferred to ER Staff. The Metro Paramedic and North Park Fire District Team remained in the ER and assisted the ER staff for an hour and a half working on the victim and the team went well and above what is expected from crews once patient care is passed on to the ER staff. Three hours after the incident, the victim had started to breathe again on their own and was flown to a university hospital for further care.

Metro Paramedic Services is recognizing the following personnel assigned to the North Park Fire District for their quick response and ability to quickly locate and rescue the drowning victim: Captain EMT-B Matthew Hehn, Deputy Chief EMT-Paramedic Andy Schroeder, Firefighter Paramedic Tyler Thiessen, Lieutenant and, EMT-Basic Nicholas Luebke.

Thank you for your outstanding service and for all that you do! Please keep up the good work!

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