By Michael McHugh
The Eagle-Tribune
SALEM, Mass. — A Salem Fire Department recruit on his way to training at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy last week provided critical aid to a cyclist suffering a heart attack.
Around 5:30 a.m. on the morning of June 10, Salem Fire Department Recruit Colby Boulay was traveling through Weston on his way to the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy for training, when he spotted a cyclist lying on his side in the road.
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Noticing that the cyclist was not moving, Boulay pulled over and exited his vehicle to see that the individual was non-responsive, with a wound on the side of his head and labored breathing.
As Boulay began providing aid, two Winthrop Fire Department Recruits, Harry Benson and Adam Lundberg, who were also traveling to the academy as members of Class No. 341, came upon the scene.
Together, the three recruits performed CPR and undertook lifesaving efforts until members of the Weston Fire Department arrived and took over patient care.
By the time the patient was loaded onto a MedFlight helicopter, a pulse had been restored.
Although Boulay is not yet a certified EMT, he said that his training through the Cataldo Ambulance, which was set up by the Salem Fire Department, allowed him to take action under extreme circumstances.
“The training that I’ve received, not only at the Salem Fire Department and through Cataldo, but also at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, gave me the confidence to not be in a full panic,” he said.
In a Facebook post, family members of the cyclist, who is now awake but still in the cardiac ICU at Mass General as of Saturday, thanked the recruits for their decisive action.
“Thank you all for your quick response and expert care,” Sandy Kane said in a Facebook comment. “My husband Mark, the cyclist, had suffered a heart attack while on his bike. You all saved his life!”
Boulay thanked the Weston Fire EMS and Police for their quick response to the scene, which he said was only about five minutes after he called 911.
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