In celebration of National Emergency Medical Service (EMS) week, Steward Health Care, which operates nine hospitals across Massachusetts, hosted its 2nd annual “EMS Stewards of the Community” Award Ceremony. During the event 22 EMS providers were honored for going above and beyond in their interactions with patients at Steward Health Care Hospitals – and six of them went above and beyond for Holy Family Hospital patients.
The six Holy Family Hospital honorees are Anthony Coco and Ryan Colvin from Methuen, Brian Belfiore from Groveland, William Laliberty from Haverhill, and Robert DeFlumeri of Medford and Jason Landry of Atkinson, NH, who are both paramedics from Trinity EMS.
Coco and Calvin, EMTs from Methuen Fire Department, were nominated by Jeffrey Gerardi, EMS Manager for Methuen Fire Department, for quick and decisive action in April of 2018 when they responded to a call where a pregnant woman was reportedly unresponsive. On arrival, emergent care was initiated and the patient was prepared for transport when she began to actively seize. Understanding this was a critical medical situation, they worked quickly to protect her airway and assisted with ventilations until ALS arrived and emergently transported the patient to Holy Family Hospital. Mother and baby are now home and the quick action of Coco and Calvin helped save both of their lives.
Belfiore, Laliberty, DeFlumeri and Landry were nominated by Kirk Brigham, Director of Clinical Services at Trinity EMS, for going above and beyond during the March 2018 ‘bomb cyclone.”
A 67-year-old Haverhill man became unresponsive while snow blowing. His wife called 911, and hearing the call, off-duty Haverhill Fire Chief William Laliberty, who lived just down the street, responded and assisted. At the same time, Belfiore, a Groveland firefighter and EMT who was plowing just a couple of streets away, responded. Trinity EMS Paramedics Jason Landry and Robert DeFlumeri arrived on the scene and the team of professionals from different agencies and backgrounds worked feverishly to save the man’s life. After CPR and defibrillation they were able to restore a pulse in route to Holy Family Hospital, where the patient, who was then conscious and responding, underwent emergent cardiac catheterization to open the blocked vessels that had caused cardiac arrest. If not for the efforts of all four men, the patient would not have survived.
“EMS providers are unsung heroes on the front lines in the battle against illness and injury,” said Holy Family Hospital President Craig Jesiolowski, FACHE, who presented the award to Coco, Colvin, Belfiore, Laliberty, DeFlumeri and Landry. “We are immensely proud to honor their hard work and commitment to quality care with these annual awards.”
The “EMS Stewards of the Community” awards show appreciation for emergency medical responders, emergency medical technicians and advanced emergency medical technicians, and paramedics who not only carry out the noble work of caring for others, but do so with a high degree of expertise, professionalism, and compassion. An internal committee of physicians and EMS Directors selected recipients among current providers in communities served by Steward.
Mike Timlin, former Red Sox relief pitcher and four-time World Series Champion, delivered the “Stewards of the Community” keynote address, sharing his first-hand account of being present at the open air concert in Las Vegas last October where a gunman fired 1,100 rounds from his hotel window into the crowd, killing 58 people and wounding 851. Timlin recounted the heroic efforts of the EMS responders and how seamlessly they worked together to save lives in a moment of crisis.
“If it weren’t for first responders like those being honored tonight, many more people would have lost their lives that night,” said Timlin, “These courageous men and women willingly rush into dangerous situations every day – they are truly heroes.”