Lynbrook Firefighters Honored for Saving Lives

The first save occurred in August 2019 while Lynbrook firefighter Donald Kealey was attending a soccer tournament in Hershey, PA.  While waiting for an elevator at the hotel he and his family were staying at, he heard someone calling for help.  Kealey went to investigate and found that the clerk behind the counter had fallen from his chair and was unconscious on the floor.  Kealey jumped over the counter and finding only a slight heartbeat, began CPR and alternating mouth to mouth breathing.  The man seemed to regain consciousness and began to answer Kealey's questions only to pass out again.  Kealey again began CPR and mouth to mouth.  Again, the man regained consciousness. Pennsylvania State Troopers and EMS paramedics arrived and transported the man to the hospital.  It was learned that the clerk had overdosed and had gone in to cardiac arrest.  Kealey had saved the man's life.

The second save also occurred in August 2019 when Lynbrook firefighters returning from a previous call were notified of a male having a seizure inside Pearsall's Station on Sunrise Highway.  Upon arrival they found an unconscious 39-year old male on the floor with no pulse.  Chief Michael Brooks, joined by Second Assistant Chief Chris Kelly, broadcast a code 61 to other arriving units.  Medical Company Ex-Captain Ashley Maxwell and EMT Katie DuBose began working on the patient.  They placed the patient on the stretcher and put him into the ambulance where they were joined by Northwell Paramedics and firefighter Ryan Kenny and Firefighter Amanda Walsh.  Still the victim had no pulse and CPR was begun in the back of the ambulance.  The Northwell paramedics initiated Advanced Life Support establishing an IO line and intubation of the patient.  The ambulance was driven by Ex-Captain Patrick Curran with a Lynbrook police escort to South Nassau Communities Hospital.  During the ride to the hospital the patient was delivered three shocks to restore and sustain a pulse.  The patient lived. Each one of these Lynbrook firefighters played a life-saving role in saving this man's life.

The final award was to Second Assistant Chief Chris Kelly who in November 2019, was stopped by another driver on the Robert Moses Parkway seeking help for the driver’s unconscious passenger.  The passenger was in his late 30's and unconscious and not breathing. Kelly repositioned the passenger to clear his airway and called 9-1-1 call for an ambulance to the scene.  Kelly also learned that the passenger had overdosed on an unknown amount of heroin.  Kelly ran to his vehicle and got his department issued overdose kit equipped with Narcan.  The Narcan was administered to the patient and the patient began breathing.  Kelly gave the patient a second dose.  The West Islip FD ambulance arrived on the scene and with further Advanced Life Support treatment the patient became alert and was transported to the hospital.  If it had not been for Chief Kelly stopping and assisting, the patient would have succumbed to his overdose of the heroin.