One of our own Firefighter/EMT members was featured in an article written for the Huffington Post. FF/EMT Bill Rothschild's recollection of one of the many calls he has answered is the first story mentioned in the article.

"When a 17-year-old male got hit by a drunk driver in Westchester County, NY, Bill Rothschild was on the scene. Having worked as a paramedic for over three decades, he’d seen a fair share of car accidents, but this was different. “This was a young boy, barely driving age, just running an errand. He wasn’t doing anything illegal, and the scene was brutal,” Rothschild said. As he approached the vehicle, he noticed the teen was losing a large amount of blood quickly.

During impact, the driver had received a massive head wound and face laceration stretching from his ears to his lips. The wound was so large that Rothschild could see his partner through the other side of the young man’s face. Once the fire department arrived, they immediately used their hydraulic rescue tools to remove the teenager from the vehicle and prep him for the ambulance crew. Rothschild felt sure that he wouldn’t make it in time.

His team phoned for a helicopter to fly the patient directly to the trauma center, but before it came, Rothschild had to make a fast decision. If he was going to try to save the teen’s life, he had to get creative. Rothschild wheeled the patient to the helicopter crew who immediately performed a rapid sequence intubation to induce the patient into unconsciousness. The helicopter then took off for the hospital.

“When we fail, everybody notices; when we succeed it goes unnoticed…It’s a battle, it’s a war to bring these people back. You’re using every tool in your toolbox to bring them back,” Rothschild said. Over the next several weeks, Rothschild and his team visited the hospital several times to check on the status of the patient. To everyone’s surprise and delight, he eventually made a full recovery, in large part thanks to Rothschild."

The rest of the article can be read using this link: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/these-first-responders-are-real-life-superheroes_us_59ef59bee4b03535fa941891

Firefighter/Paramedic Bill Rothschild has been a valuable asset not only to our department, but also to our town. Firefighter/EMT Rothschild, along with Firefighter/EMT Mike Goldberg, and Firefighter Bill Sheehan regularly visit Somers Middle School. Devoting their time to teach students about Fire Safety and EMS, they demonstrate to the students the tools we use to aid our town in time of emergency. With countless hours devoted to the town, the department and to his family, Firefighter/Paramedic Rothschild is a great role model. If you happen to see him around town, say hello!