Personnel from the Joachim-Plattin Ambulance and Dunklin Fire Protection districts recently were honored for helping a Barnhart man who had suffered from cardiac arrest.
Paramedics Ernie Morfeld and Jered Farmer from JPAD and captains Mike Peterein and William Slinkard and firefighter Ryan Klauman from Dunklin Fire each received the Exceptional Life Saver Award from the Missouri East Central EMS Committee, which represents emergency medical agencies in Jefferson, St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, Warren, Lincoln and Pike counties and the city of St. Louis.
East Central EMS committee member Jenny Baetz presented the awards to the paramedics and firefighters on Oct. 4 at JPAD House 6 in Crystal City.
They received the award for helping Sanford Hardin, 59, of Barnhart in December, after he went into cardiac arrest. Hardin attended the ceremony and thanked the emergency responders for their care and treatment during his time of need.
“I really appreciate it,” Hardin said. “If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here.”
His wife, Nancy, who was his girlfriend when he suffered the medical emergency, also said she was grateful for the care the paramedics and firefighters provided.
“I don’t know what I’d have done without them,” Nancy Hardin said. “I can’t thank them enough.
“Thanks to them, we’re married. We got married Sept. 25.”
Baetz said the first responders’ efforts contributed to a better outcome for Sanford Hardin, who otherwise could have suffered permanent neurological deficits.
Gary Stefan, the JPAD chief medical officer, submitted the application for the Life Saver awards for the JPAD and Dunklin Fire personnel, saying he felt they performed their duties in an exemplary manner.
“The first to encounter him was the Dunklin Fire District,” Stefan said. “The gentleman was having some chest pains and his girlfriend, now his wife, drove him to the Dunklin fire station on Hwy. Z.”
Then, Dunklin Fire personnel started basic life support.
“Our (JPAD) crew arrived and worked in cooperation with their crew,” Stefan said. “The paramedics were able to provide defibrillation and cardiac resuscitation and medication with a successful outcome.”
He said there is no doubt the emergency responders saved Hardin’s life.
“He did die,” Stefan said. “He, basically, was pulseless.”
Stefan said his personnel receives training that helps them in such situations.
“I’m very proud of their work and, obviously, the outcome,” he said.
Dunklin Fire Chief Brad Williams said his personnel did what they were supposed to.
“They did their jobs,” he said.