Overview:
Several first responders in Athol were honored for their response to a logging accident in May. The fire and police departments were dispatched to the scene where a man was injured while in a tree. The patient was LifeFlighted to a hospital and listed in stable condition. The fire chief praised the professionalism and teamwork of both agencies, saying that their skill sets were exceptional.
ATHOL – Several of the town’s first responders were honored for their response to a logging accident on May 2.
At the Selectboard meeting on May 19, Fire Chief Jeff Parker said that at about 10:15 a.m., Athol fire and police were dispatched to the area of 731 Brickyard Road for a male party who had been injured while in a tree.
“It was unknown at the time what his injuries were,” added Parker.
While the ambulance was still en route, said the fire chief, “Officers Scott Dubrule and Andrew Morris arrived on scene and did a fantastic job of determining exactly where the patient was located and radioed the information back to dispatch.”
The officers reported the man was 20 to 30 feet up in the tree, lapsing in and out of consciousness. At the officers’ instruction, dispatch called LifeFlight to Athol Hospital and summoned the District 8 High Angle Rescue Team.
“The ambulance crew of Derek Perry and John Smith and the engine crew of Chad Girard, Trisha Gonyor and Capt. Kevin Kaczmarczyk then arrived on the scene,” Parker continued.
He said Kaczmarczyk was advised the victim was located a half to three-quarters of a mile into the woods.
“Our apparatus was not able to make it there due to the terrain,” he said. “Officer Morris brought the crew up in his cruiser. If not for his actions, it would have seriously delayed our crews from getting to the patient.”
Andrew Bond, a member of the District 8 High Angle Rescue team and an Athol firefighter/medic who was off-duty at the time, “called Capt. Kaczmarczyk to tell him he would be responding,” Parker told the board. “He was a tremendous asset to the extrication of the patient. His quick assessment of the situation and plan of attack…was very impressive.”
Parker also credited dispatcher Myron Holloway, calling him “phenomenal.”
“His calmness and attention to detail every time command radioed back a request was exceptional,” said the chief.
Perry, Smith, Girard, and Gonyor, he added, did an “amazing job” assessing the patient and getting him loaded into the back of a pickup truck for transport to the waiting ambulance “and treatment on the way to the hospital.”
The patient was LifeFlighted to UMass/Memorial Hospital in Worcester, according to Parker. At last report he was listed in stable condition.
“The professionalism and teamwork between both agencies was exceptional,” Parker said. “I truly believe that were it not for the incredible skill sets this could have had a very different outcome. I want to thank all those individuals.”