- April 23, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Palm Coast celebrated its public safety staff — including a volunteer firefighter intern, Animal Control staff and four local firefighters — with a proclamation at a City Council meeting on April 5.
The volunteer firefighter intern, Palm Coast lifeguard Jericho Taylor, had pulled over at the scene of a fatal car crash on March 2 and performed CPR on a crash victim until fire rescue staff arrived.
The patient, a woman, later died of her injuries, but Taylor’s efforts restored her pulse, giving her a chance, according to a city government news release.
When fire rescue staff arrived up at the crash site at the intersection of Belle Terre Parkway at Pine Grove Drive, Fire Chief Jerry Forte said at the council meeting, “They immediately recognized that a bystander happened to be on the road and performing chest compressions on a patient. His actions led to the prompt return of spontaneous circulation to the body. ... His CPR brought back this person to a certain level of sustainability.”
Taylor had been on his way home from EMT school when he came upon the crash, pulled over and checked the patient, who had no pulse. He immediately started CPR.
“What goes through their mind as you’re approaching the scene in their nervous system — I’m sure increased heart rate, anxiety, stress,” Forte said.
A 2019 graduate of Matanzas High School and a lifelong resident of Flagler County, Taylor is studying in the Emergency Medical Technician program at Flagler Technical College, according to the news release.
He’s worked for the city since 2019 as a lifeguard at the Palm Coast Aquatics Center, and became a volunteer intern with the city’s Fire Department in September 2021.
Taylor will start the firefighter training program at Daytona State College this May, and had been told earlier on March 2, the day of the crash, that the Palm Coast Fire Department would be sponsoring his firefighter certification training.
There are now almost 30 graduates of the intern program, serving as firefighters, driver engineers and lieutenants.
Palm Coast created the intern program in 2017, and interns have hiring preference if they apply for Fire Department positions.
There are now almost 30 graduates of the intern program serving as firefighters, driver engineers and lieutenants, according to the news release.
Council members also recognized four city firefighters — Lieutenant Matthew Stevens, Driver Engineer Daniel Bouillon, Driver Engineer Joseph Fajardo, and Firefighter Paramedic Bill Kerek — who were activated to assist with the Chipola Complex wildfires in Bay County on March 17 and deployed within three hours of being notified.
The city’s three Animal Control officers also received kudos for several recent rescues: Animal Control officer Heather Priestap this past March rescued a mini-horse found living in unsafe conditions, identifying a new home for him; Animal Control Officer Shelley Burton found a dog named Ginger that had been missing for 11 days; and Officer Kasey Hagan last Thursday brought a dehydrated and underweight fawn from a local animal hospital to a wildlife rehabilitation center in St. Augustine.
“These are just a few examples of the selfless actions of our Animal Control officers,” mayor David Alfin said, reading a proclamation at the City Council meeting. “Thank you to our incredible Animal Control Division for looking out for our four-legged friends and keeping them safe.”
