CANCÚN, Quintana Roo — Even while vacationing in another country, a firefighter from the Orange Volunteer Fire Department had the wherewithal to help save a teenager’s life.
Firefighter Tom Bartiss, the chaplain of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department, was recently on vacation with his wife Ann at a resort outside of Cancún, Mexico, according to a release from the Orange Fire Association.
The release said that emergencies were the furthest thing from Bartiss’ mind, but he did not hesitate when he saw a 13-year-old in trouble by the resort swimming pool.
“When you’re trained, you’re trained,” Bartiss said in the release, while retelling the story.
Bartiss and his wife were eating dinner when they noticed a “commotion” by the pool, the release said.
Ann noticed the teen in distress, and Bartiss rushed to his side, just as another woman had started CPR, according to the release.
“I said, ‘You do compressions, and I’ll get the breaths in,’” Bartiss said in the release. “I kept looking at his eyes. They were almost normal. I said, ‘We’ve got a chance.’”
According to the release, CPR was performed on the teen for around 20 minutes. While the teen seemed to moan at times, there was no pulse, so Bartiss and the other women who responded continued compressions and rescue breathing.
When a doctor and pediatric ambulance arrived, it was determined that no shock was needed. The release said the doctor and other first responders administered medications to the teen, and then indicated it was time to shock the teen; after two shocks, first responders found a pulse.
“He started coming around,” Bartiss said in the release, while noting that the teen was coughing but not coughing up water.
The ambulance took the teen to a pediatric hospital in Cancun and, according to the release, Bartiss was impressed by the city’s modern medical and emergency medical facilities.
Three days later, the teen was back at the resort, the release said.
Bartiss and the other people who rushed to the aid of the child did not receive any recognition other than a quick thank you from the resort, according to the release, but that wasn’t what was important to Bartiss. He credited the woman who helped him save the teen’s life.
“If that woman wasn’t there and (hadn’t) started CPR before I did, I don’t think he would have made it,” Bartiss said, in the release. “I was just in the right place at the right time. I’m so grateful I was there. I hope I gave the kid a long, good life. God definitely has a plan.”
Bartiss has been an Orange firefighter for about eight years after spending 28 years as a career firefighter in West Haven, where he retired as a captain, the release said. Bartiss trained to become an Episcopal deacon and has worked as a chaplain at Griffin Hospital in Derby for eight years.
In the release, Orange Fire Chief Vaughn Dumas called Bartiss a "great firefighter and a wonderful part" of the department.
“Whether he’s working at the scene of an emergency or talking quietly with a firefighter about something they’ve seen or something going on in their lives, Tom always applies all his skill, talent and compassion. We’re very proud of what Tom did in Mexico. We’re not surprised though because he is the consummate firefighter,” Dumas said in the release.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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