Family members, first responders lauded for saving two Hoffman Estates men with CPR
Women from different families helped save the lives of two loved ones in Hoffman Estates on the same day this spring by using CPR instructions from emergency dispatchers.
Katie Muehlfelder was able to keep her father, Marek Semik, alive while paramedics were on the way that particular afternoon, before Ella Myrda did the same for her husband, John Myrda, in the early evening.
They, the dispatcher who helped Muehlfelder, and the 16 firefighter/paramedics who played a vital part in one or both responses were recognized for their actions by the Hoffman Estates village board Monday.
Hoffman Estates Fire Chief Alan Wax explained the reasons for the two Citizen Lifesaving Awards and numerous Certificates of Commendation being presented to the first responders involved.
“So April 17, 2023, was a very busy day for the fire department in our community, in addition to these calls,” Wax said. “But we're going to be talking about what started at 3:45 p.m. that day.”
Paramedics received a call of a cardiac arrest and arrived to find Muehlfelder already performing CPR on her father under the guidance of Northwest Central Dispatch Center telecommunicator Janine Tribuzio.
The crew then took over with advanced life-support methods and ultimately revived Semik, who attended Monday's recognition.
“There is no doubt that the CPR with the instructions given by Janine and performed by Katie while waiting for the paramedics to arrive kept her dad's vital organs perfused with oxygen and allowed the advanced treatments provided by the paramedics to work successfully,” Wax said.
Less than four hours later, some of the same paramedics were part of a second call where they found Ella Myrda receiving instruction from another dispatcher to perform CPR on her husband. He, too, recovered and attended the village board meeting.
“We are so, so happy to be able to speak of the positive outcomes in these cases — made possible by the willingness of Katie and Ella to take action,” Wax said. “We know it was scary to them while it was happening, but they did great. We also recognize the gifts these families have received and are so happy that Katie's dad, Marek Semik, is here this evening, and Ella's husband, John Myrda.”
The number of fire department personnel receiving commendations for the two responses is a reflection of how labor-intensive cardiac arrest calls are, Wax said.
“It's important for us to tell these stories as a reminder of our lifesaving message that CPR saves lives,” he added. “We encourage everybody to learn CPR. We know that statistically if you end up needing to use CPR, it will be to try to save a family member or a friend.”
He invited all residents to sign up on the village website for the fire department's CPR classes.
The firefighter/paramedics recognized were Jonathon Drummer, Vincent Bava, Emma Gilhooly, David Leslie, Ian Rose, Simon Scholes, Benjamin Olson, Dustin Eckhardt, Michael Petrucci, Peter Behnke, Michael Clarke; Lts. Richard Anderson, Jeffrey Northrup and Kraig Olsen; Capt. Brian Campbell; and paramedic student Kris Bohnen.
“Extraordinary stories we heard tonight,” Mayor Bill McLeod said.