CHÉTICAMP: Following the life-saving actions of two Inverness County residents during an incident in Chéticamp, the Municipality of Inverness County is considering the establishment of a Heroic Action Award to honor these individuals and recognize future acts of bravery.
The medical emergency occurred on the evening of Dec. 22 at the Cabot Trail Arena in Chéticamp, near the end of a local hockey game.
“They were all together and playing, and he felt normal, but right at the end of the ice time, he just collapsed on the ice,” said Matthew Bourgeois, president of the Chéticamp Volunteer Fire Department.
Fortunately, two members of the Chéticamp Fire Department, Alex Poirier and Keith Fraser, were present and playing that evening.
“They noticed he was in cardiac arrest, wasn’t responsive, and wasn’t breathing. He had no pulse, so they started CPR right away,” Bourgeois explained.
Fraser quickly retrieved scissors from the dressing room to remove the patient’s hockey gear, while Poirier began chest compressions. The arena was equipped with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), which was used as CPR continued.
“After the second shock, the patient started to regain consciousness and got a pulse back. By the time EHS and fire arrived, the patient was sitting up on the ice talking,” Bourgeois said.
The patient was transported to Halifax and returned home by Christmas Day.
“It was a great outcome,” Bourgeois added.
Bourgeois emphasized the critical role of CPR training and AEDs in saving lives, calling them “priceless.”
“They save lives. We’ve been saying that for a long time, but even more so now since this happened,” he said. “They should be in any public place – schools should have them, grocery stores, anywhere really.”
Expressing pride in the actions of the fire department members, Bourgeois remarked, “I’ve been in this career many years, and these stories do happen, but they’re seldom – they are very seldom. So, I’m very proud of the work that was put in. It was just a complete organization of leadership on their part. Having the training and taking the lead when something like this happens goes a long way.”
He noted that the incident underscores the vital need for firefighters in the community and encouraged more people to consider joining local fire services.
At a Jan. 9 council meeting for the Municipality of Inverness County, the heroic actions of the fire service members were discussed, along with the proposal for a Heroic Action Award.
“We could recognize people or do some type of ceremony,” Chief Administrative Officer for the Municipality of Inverness County Keith MacDonald said.
Council agreed to explore ways to acknowledge heroic actions and to establish the award as an ongoing recognition for future acts of bravery.
Bourgeois expressed hope that council would approve the initiative, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the firefighters involved.
“They deserve the recognition. We do help people on a daily basis and very often, but this here is truly saving a person’s life and happens very seldomly,” Bourgeois said. “To say that you brought back somebody that was dead to full recovery is rare. No words can describe the amount of thankfulness this recovering patient is feeling towards them.”