Aurora Exchange Club to name Firefighter of Year
The Exchange Club of Aurora, in association with the Aurora Fire Department, will name its choice for Firefighter of the Year during a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, at the Gaslite Manor, 2485 Church Road.
Fifteen Aurora firefighters and paramedics have been nominated for the annual award. They are:
타 Paramedics Corey Fryer and Matt Anslow, firefighters Joshua Murray and Mark Long, and Lt. Steve Kish for their teamwork on a call involving a 55-year-old woman with chest pains on Nov. 7.
Upon initial response, the paramedics recognized the patient was in serious condition so they requested additional assistance and began aggressive treatment to prevent irreversible heart muscle damage that usually occurs in heart attack patients.
When more help arrived, they continued treatment through her transport to the hospital. When she arrived, a major blockage was removed from a cardiac vessel. However, due to the prompt treatment of the responding Aurora Fire Department personnel, she suffered very minimal heart muscle damage.
Fryer joined the department in 2002, Anslow in 2001, Murray in 2008 and Long in 2000. Fryer and Anslow are both arson investigators and Anslow and Long also serve on the Water Rescue Team.
Kish has been with the department since 1996. He served as a paramedic for 10 years before being promoted to lieutenant in 2006. He serves on both the Hazardous Materials and Water Rescue teams.
타 Paramedic John Ross, firefighter Dwayne Love and Battalion Chief Tim Pogue assisted several fire departments with a man who was trapped in a sand hopper at a Naperville concrete plant on Feb. 6.
With Pogue in a command position and Love serving as one of the backup rescuers, Ross entered the hopper to remove sand from around the victim and provide medical treatment to lessen the man’s pain during the rescue process.
With the help of Pogue, Love and other rescue personnel from surrounding agencies, the victim was successfully lifted from the hopper using specialized rigging systems.
Ross joined the department in 2002 and Love in 1998. Both are members of the fire department’s Technical Rescue Team. Ross also serves on the Hazardous Materials Team. Love, who has also been a paramedic since 1999, is also on the department’s Child Protective Seat Installer Team.
Pogue joined the department in 1994 and served as a paramedic for four years. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2005, captain in 2008 and was appointed to the rank of battalion chief in 2010. He is currently the department’s training director and is a member of the Water Rescue and Technical Rescue teams. He was named Firefighter of the Year 2000 and again in 2001.
타 Firefighter Eric Calkins and Lt. Brandon Matson for saving the life of an 80-year-old woman on July 26.
Upon arriving at a house fire on the east side of Aurora, they learned the woman was trapped in one of the bedrooms. While other firefighters fought the blaze, Calkins and Matson searched for the victim, despite the worsening heat and smoke conditions.
They finally located her entangled in a cable between the dresser and bed. Since the fire prohibited Matson and Calkins from taking the woman through the front door, the two had to lift the patient through a bedroom window.
Calkins joined the department in 1997. Matson joined in 2000 and has been a paramedic since 2001. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2010 and also serves as an arson investigator.
타 Paramedics Ray Torres, John Bonior and Steve Matthias; firefighter Jason Larson and Lt. Bob Warren, who together saved the life of a 59-year-old man on Aug. 18 after responding to a crash at Farnsworth Avenue and Bilter Road.
When they arrived on the scene, they found a firefighter from a neighboring department performing CPR on the victim. They proceeded to take over the lifesaving efforts using a cardiac monitor and other advanced life-support equipment before transporting the man to the hospital.
Through the use of early defibrillation, CPR and the other advanced treatments performed in an expedient manner, the responding personnel were able to save the man’s life.
Torres joined the department in 1998 and has been a paramedic since 2001, and Matthias joined in 1991 and has been a paramedic since 1992. Bonior has been with the department since 2001 and Larson since 2000. Both also serve as members of the Hazardous Material Team.
Warren joined the department in 1996 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2010.