Westlake firefighters honored with two awards

Pictured left to right: Alexander Kuhn (American Heart Association), Chief James Hughes, firefighter Nick Dangel, firefighter Paul Carroll,  firefighter Tyler Kelly, Asst. Chief Mike Freeman, firefighter Eric Szytec, Capt. Russ Hetman, firefighter John Kish, firefighter Glen Netkowicz, Lt. Doug Vasi, Linda Owen (St. John Medical Center, manager of cardiovascular services) and Bill Young (St. John Medical Center CEO).

The Westlake Fire Department received two awards at the July 2 Westlake City Council meeting.

The first, presented by the American Heart Association, was the organization’s Mission Lifeline Silver Award, which recognized the Westlake Fire Department’s high standard of cardiac care and transport of patients suffering from a STEMI, a severe heart attack that requires urgent treatment to prevent death. Of the 1,400 agencies in the state that provide emergency services, only 51 received the award.

The second award was a recognition from St. John Medical Center for excellent care of cardiovascular patients for the year 2014.