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Tuesday
Jul032012

TERRE HILL PICNIC REUNITES EMS CREW WITH BOY THEY SAVED

Terre Hill Fire Company Chief Troy Weaver, Fivepointville Ambulance EMTs Jennifer Overholt and Don Ellis; , Ephrata Community Hospital Medic 4 medic Ronni Miller helped save the life of 14-month-old Roger Martin last month. (Photo by Carole Deck)
By CAROLE DECK, Correspondent

Memorial Day is a holiday to honor veterans, but for Dale and Mary Ann Martin it will be a day to celebrate the survival of their young son. The Terre Hill couple credit the fast response of Emergency Medical Services — and God — for the life-saving rescue of 14-month-old Roger.  


May 28 — Memorial Day — began like any other work day for the young Terre Hill couple. Dale went to his job in Clay, and Mary Ann worked in the garden while sons, Eric, 7, Jesse, 5, and Adam, 3, played outdoors in the sunny, warm weather.  

Mary Ann, busy pulling weeds, kept an eye on Roger who was happily playing in the sandbox.  She noticed that the boy had left the sandbox, and said she assumed he was playing with his siblings.  
When she checked with the boys, she learned Roger wasn't with them, nor was he in the garage or the house. Filled with panic, she ran to the fish pond Dale had installed a week earlier. 

"I ran there to find the unthinkable," Mary Ann said. "My baby floating and silent on the water."
Pulling the boy out of the water and looking at his bloated body and blue lips, Mary Ann said she could think of only one thing, death. She told her sons to call 911 and ran down the driveway where her screams caught the attention of Marcus Zimmerman riding by on his bicycle.

"The woman was yelling for someone to help her baby," Zimmerman. said. He sent her to call 911 as he worked to get the water out of the boy's lungs. 

Kevin Flick at Lancaster Countywide Communications received the call and dispatched emergency services. In less than three minutes, Terre Hill Fire Company's Quick Response Service was on the scene followed by Fivepointville Ambulance and Medic 4 from Ephrata Community Hospital.  

"Roger was unresponsive, not breathing," Chief Troy Weaver of Terre Hill Fire Company said. " We opened his airway, began rescue breathing and gave him oxygen." Jennifer Overholt, an emergency medical technician from Fivepointville Ambulance, said when the ambulance arrived Roger was crying. The EMTs assisted with giving him oxygen before Medic 4 arrived. "We provided advanced life support and cardiac monitoring plus assisted PennSTAR flight crew for the transport to Hershey Medical Center," medic Ronni Miller with Medic 4 said. 

The PennSTAR helicopter from Reading Regional Airport took the boy to Hershey Medical Center where he was admitted to the pediatric trauma unit and then pediatric intensive care. "Roger made an amazing turn around with no permanent damage as far as we can tell," Dale said. 

Terre Hill Fire Company held a picnic for the Martin family and the medical providers involved in the rescue.  "Providers rarely get closure after a rescue, so we decided to get everyone together to celebrate Roger's recovery," Weaver said. Overholt said that seeing the blue-eyed, blond-haired boy running around wearing a big smile reinforced why she's an EMT.  Miller agreed. "It's wonderful to see such a good outcome to a rescue," Miller said. 

When the fire company learned that the Martins had no medical insurance, they set up a fund to help pay the expenses. Dale acknowledged that they hadn't asked or expected financial help but it is appreciated.  "We have much gratitude for everyone who helped. There are no words to express how we feel," Dale said. "And we especially are thankful to God, who gave us Roger in the first place and decided we may keep him a little longer." 

Donations can be sent to Terre Hill Fire Company, Attn: Roger Martin Fund, P.O. Box 421, Terre Hill, PA 17581.

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