Orange volunteer firefighter saves teen in Mexico – NBC Connecticut

Tom Bartiss worked as a West Haven firefighter for nearly 30 years. He was on vacation in Mexico last month when an emergency occurred.

“You’re never on vacation when you’re fighting fires,” Bartiss said. “You are always ready to answer any call you need. »

He was having dinner with his wife when she noticed a commotion.

“Restaurants are surrounded by pools,” Bartiss said. “We see people carrying a woman and my wife noticed two little bare feet sticking out and a crowd around.”

Bartiss said he rushed to the scene. When he arrived there, he noticed a woman, who he later discovered was a nurse, performing CPR on a 13-year-old child. Together, they worked for 20 minutes to resuscitate the child.

“Totally exhausted, totally exhausted,” Bartiss said when asked how he felt afterward. “You put everything you have into it.”

He said the child started moaning and was taken to an ambulance where he was treated.

Bartiss, who has been a volunteer firefighter with the Orange Fire Department for eight years, says saving the boy felt good.

“The feeling is wonderful,” he said. “When you perform CPR, you understand that 90% of people won't be able to do it. Being a kid, you do everything you can do. It worked well.

The child and his mother received medical treatment and returned to the complex three days later.

“We never got to meet the family or the child, which I would have loved to do, just see him in person,” he says. “I saw him, but I couldn’t talk to him.”

Even though there hasn't been a reunion, Bartiss says the message he wants people to take away is that they should learn how to perform CPR and use an AED.