Elmhurst Hospital honors fire department paramedics for 'Run of the Year'

ELMHURST – Elmhurst Hospital has awarded its 2016 EMS Run of the Year to members of the Elmhurst Fire Department for their care in November 2015 of a 78-year-old man who passed out while with his family at a restaurant.

According to a news release from the hospital, paramedics Kevin Cork, Dan Drzewiecki, Richard Dufort, Susan Goepp, Patrick O’Donnell and Zach Russavage were honored for their treatment of the patient who was experiencing rapid and irregular heartbeat after he regained consciousness.

The paramedics monitored the patient’s heart rhythm and provided lifesaving intervention while in regular contact with the Elmhurst Hospital Emergency Department, where he was transported for further treatment, according to the release.

“Thanks to the constant reassessment of this patient and the superb level of communication and medical expertise, this patient is alive today,” Elmhurst Hospital President and CEO Mary Lou Mastro said in the release.

Other area EMS personnel and police officers also were honored at Elmhurst Hospital’s fourth annual EMS Recognition Dinner on Oct. 6 at Pinstripes in Oak Brook. The event caps off the yearlong “Run of the Month” program in which area paramedics are honored for exceptional ambulance runs with a breakfast at their station, the release stated.

Elmhurst Hospital has been honoring area EMS providers with the “Run of the Month” since 2012. Teams are selected based on excellent communication from the field, excellent work in gathering information, clear and thorough documentation, superior clinical assessment skills, heroic behavior in the field, and superior partnership and teamwork with Elmhurst Hospital.

For more information about emergency care at Elmhurst Hospital, visit www.EEHealth.org/services/emergency.