Two With Groton Ties Honored For Fast Action, Saving a Life
Groton Fire Chief Steele McCurdy presented citations to Groton Fire Department Lieutenant James Crocker and Westford Paramedic/Firefighter John Tuomi at the Board of Selectmen’s for their heroic efforts and quick action in saving the life of a man in cardiac arrest at Gillette Stadium Christmas Eve. Groton Fire Department members (l to R) Firefighter/EMT Dave Dubey, Captain Jim Emslie, EMT Chris Fischer. Fire Chief Steele McCurdy, Lieutenant Jim Crocker, Captain Tony Hawgood, Westford Paramedic/Firefighter John Tuomi, Firefighter/EMT Matt Pisani, Firefighter John Riley, Firefighter Heather Rhodes, EMT Patrick Kiley, Captain Susan Daly, Firefighter/EMT Jeremy Janueskiewicz, and EMT Heidi Janueskiewicz. Photo by Connie Sartini
Groton Fire Dept. Lieutenant Jim Crocker and Westford Paramedic/Firefighter John Tuomi relax while listening to Don Black offer compliments and praise for their quick thinking, initiative and professionalism in saving the life of a sixty-one year old man in the throes of a heart attack before the start of the Patriots/Jets game on December 24 at Gillette Stadium. Photo by Connie Sartini
Christmas Eve day and the New England Patriots are getting ready to play the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium.
Two close friends, Westford Paramedic/Firefighter John Tuomi and Groton Fire Lieutenant Jim Crocker come in early and are just getting settled into their seats. There is an air of excitement as fans slowly file in as the rain comes down.
Two rows in front of them, Tuomi notices a man slumped in his seat and his two sons trying to talk to him. Tuomi goes to the man and finds he has no pulse. He and Crocker lift the man into the narrow aisle way. Crocker performs chest compressions and Tuomi takes the man’s pulse, using the scoreboard clock for timing and sending one of the man’s sons to get help and bring back the defibrillator. Tuomi once worked at Gillette Stadium and knows where this equipment is located.
The action by the Tuomi and Crocker team takes no more than 15 seconds from noticing the problem to taking life-saving action.
Police soon arrive and take over the compressions, enabling the pair to use the defibrillator. Fallon Ambulance Service arrives and transports the now-conscious patient to the hospital.
The man was able to return home to his family a few days after Christmas.
Christmas miracles do happen and this one involves two men with ties to Groton. Paramedic John Tuomi who grew up in Groton and began his career as a member of the Groton Fire Department, and now serves as a Paramedic and Firefighter in Westford and as an on-call volunteer in Townsend; and Lieutenant James Crocker is a Firefighter/EMT in the Groton Fire Department.
Two teams won big on Christmas Eve: Paramedic John Tuomi and Lt. James Crocker saved a man’s life, and the New England Patriots defeated the Jets.