PTFD Firefighters (left to right) Paramedic Paul Juedes, Kristian Abram, and EMT Levi Anderson hold up their Outstanding Service Awards, which they recently received for saving heart attack patients.
Potawatomi Tribal Fire Department (PTFD) Firefighter / Paramedic Paul Juedes, Firefighter / EMT Levi Anderson, and Firefighter Kristian Abram were presented with Outstanding Service Awards on May 7, 2024, for their efforts in saving heart attack patients. Juedes and Anderson saved two hearts in the span of fourteen hours.
In both cases, individuals in surrounding jurisdictions were at home and called 911 for help. One call was in a small community in the southeast part of the county and the other in a small community in the southwest part of the county. During both incidents, the PTFD firefighters responded to provide mutual aid and arrived to find the patients having heart attacks.
In both instances, as the highest trained ambulance attendants present, the PTFD firefighters took responsibility for the patients and guided the multi-agency care teams. They quickly evaluated the patients, determined they were likely suffering from heart attacks, and rapidly transported them to a Topeka hospital. Upon arrival, they gave the emergency room a “heart attack alert” letting their care team prepare for rapid treatment at their facility. This recognition, rapid transport, and pre-alert to the hospital gave both patients the best possible chance of minimizing the damage to their hearts. Both patients were taken from the emergency room to the cardiac catheterization lab where their blocked arteries were successfully reopened to restore blood flow to the affected areas of the heart.
PTFD Fire Chief / Paramedic Douglas Schreiner noted that these saves gave not only the patients, but also their families and friends a chance at many more years of productive life together.
“You drastically affected more than just one heart that day,” he said while commending Juedes, Anderson, and Abram.
The positive outcome of these calls are only two examples taken from the multitude that Juedes, Anderson, Abram, and their fellow firefighters are responsible for each year. It is this type of integrated teamwork that makes the critical cooperation between the agencies in southern Jackson County and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation possible.
In presenting the Outstanding Service Awards, Chief Schreiner told the firefighters, “You are a vital part of our local emergency response community and are to be commended for your actions during this incident. It is your dedication that makes the Potawatomi Tribal Fire Department second to none.”
Abram is in a Tribal Development Firefighter position. She is the child of a PBPN member and is completing her EMT class at Washburn. She has already completed the Hutchinson Firefighting Academy with PTFD and is a state and nationally certified firefighter. Abram is the third PTFD employee to take the Tribal Development position, and the program has been very successful over the last several years. The other two Tribal Development Firefighters completed the program and then took the next available 24-hour shift positions as intended.