Firefighters at Station 22A showed their true colors when they teamed up to show support as October’s 60-mile “Walk for a Cure” efforts were centered in Germantown over the weekend. The event brought in more than $5.3 million for research and community-based health and education programs and culminated in a rally on October 10th in Washington, D.C.
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, County Council President Nancy Floreen and Fire Chief Richard Bowers yesterday paid tribute to a group of “everyday heroes” – ordinary people who took extraordinary actions to save lives and help others. In a ceremony in Rockville, six individuals were recognized for their role in four different incidents.
“I am always proud to have the opportunity to recognize our community heroes, and this is no exception,” said Leggett. “The individuals that we are honoring today have all demonstrated courage and quick thinking, and a willingness to risk their own lives to help others. These individuals have made our community a safer place in which to live, and for that we are grateful.”
County Council President Nancy Floreen said, “I’m sure that none of people recognized today woke up in the morning saying ‘I’m going to be a hero,’ but when they were confronted with a life or death situation, they jumped in to do what they could and indeed became heroes. We are truly grateful to them for that. Today’s honorees serve as inspiration to us all. ”
Councilmember Phil Andrews, chair of the Public Safety Committee said, “These heroes inspire us by their actions and remind us that helping people in peril is a responsibility of us all."
Leggett, Floreen and Bowers recognized the following individuals for their heroic actions in the following incidents:
(1) Security guard Nicholas Ayers is hailed as a hero for banging on doors and alerting and evacuating 49 residents to safety during a four-alarm fire at the Manor Apartments on Georgia Avenue in Aspen Hill on the evening of December 29, 2009. More than a dozen families were displaced as a result of the fire, and Nicholas Ayers is credited with helping to save their lives.
(2) Pool operator Tiffany Miles was restocking chemicals at a Burtonsville swimming pool early on Sunday, June 13, 2010 when she noticed a child at the bottom of the pool, which was closed at the time. She immediately pulled the three-year-old child out of the pool, asked a colleague to call 911 and began to administer CPR. The child was transported to Holy Cross Hospital and survived the incident due to Miles’ quick actions.
(3) Dean Haught and Kyle Murphy started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a construction worker who was suffering a heart attack at the MedImmune construction site in Gaithersburg on August 27, 2010. Using his paramedic training, Steve Cumpston used an on-site Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and he along with Dean Haught and Kyle Murphy are credited with saving the heart attack victim’s life. The victim has recently returned to work.
(4) FedEx driver Earl Spence was making a delivery in Laytonsville on July 7, 2010 when he noticed a van parked in an embankment and idling on the hot summer day. Deciding to investigate, he discovered three senior citizens inside the locked vehicle. Two were unconscious and unresponsive, and the driver was incoherent and losing consciousness. Mr. Spence immediately called 911 and calmly maintained dialog with the increasingly disoriented driver in an attempt to keep the driver awake. Mr. Spence is credited with saving the lives of the three seniors who have since recovered, but likely would have succumbed to the gasoline fumes that were leaking from a gas can inside their vehicle.
As many of you are aware the Maryland Court of Appeals recently ruled that the question of Ambulance Reimbursement be included on the ballot in November. Thus all of you out there who reside in this wonderful community called Montgomery County will have an opportunity to vote, November 2nd, on this very important public safety initiative.
What many of you may not be aware of are the actual particulars of the Ambulance Reimbursement program. Unfortunately, I have heard many well intentioned folks make statements that simply do not accurately portray what Ambulance Reimbursement is all about. The fact is a majority of our neighbor’s in jurisdictions around the Metro region are already collecting tens of millions of dollars in ambulance reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and health insurance companies – with NO adverse effects on residents calling 911 and NO resulting premium increases.
Obviously, there are many other aspects of the reimbursement program that you should be aware of. Toward that end, I am posting links below to information you might find useful as you learn more about the reimbursement program.
Fire Chief and County Executive to Recognize Everyday Heroes
Local Residents Actions Save Others
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
2 p.m.
Lobby Level Auditorium, Executive Office Building
101 Monroe Street, Rockville
Rockville - - - County Executive Isiah Leggett and Fire Chief Richard Bowers will recognize a group of “Everyday Heroes” in a brief ceremony in Rockville. Several individuals and groups of professionals will come together to be recognized for their collective ‘life-saving’ action(s) that occurred throughout the County over the past months at various emergencies.
Incidents include a security guard who alerted the occupants of an apartment building to a fire on the top floor which brought four alarms worth of personnel and equipment to the scene; the quick life-saving actions of lifeguards arriving early at a community pool to find a 3-year-old boy unresponsive in the pool; co-workers at a construction site who quickly responded to assist their colleague after he collapsed by initiating life-saving actions and medical equipment; and, a FedEx delivery driver who came to the rescue of three unconscious elderly occupants of an idling vehicle.
Because of their quick thinking, decisive action and willingness to ‘get involved,’ several people are alive today. In some cases the survivors, victims, co-workers and family members will be present at the ceremony.
While I am positive most all of you out there NEVER text or talk on a cell phone (using hands free device the exception) while driving, I thought it prudent to make sure everyone know about the new law that goes into effect today, October 1st. Basically, no "texting” or “holding and talking on a cell phone” while driving.
The exact wording of the law:
“Prohibiting a driver of a motor vehicle that is in motion from using the driver's hands to use a handheld telephone except to initiate or terminate a wireless call or to turn on or off the handheld phone; providing that a violation of the Act may be enforced only as a secondary violation; establishing penalties of $40 for a first offense and $100 for a second offense; prohibiting a driver of a school vehicle or a holder of an instructional permit or provisional driver's license from using a handheld phone while driving; etc”.
Makes sense to most all of you who follow us on this blog or our other social media outlets. : )
For more information, several news links are available:
