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Three of Elgin’s finest were recognized last week for their exceptional work in saving a young person’s life during a cardiac arrest call on New Year’s Day.
Michael Gonzalez, Nathan Wheeler and Jacob Lopez of the city’s fire department, recently rebranded as Bastrop/Travis County ESD No. 1 to better represent its vast service area, received the Clinical Excellence Award for their roles in a successful emergency response that showcased “high quality CPR.”
Stephen Maier, training captain with the Travis County Division of Clinical Performance and Education, presented the honors during a gathering that included department staff, division personnel and Mayor Theresa McShan.
“This was a testament to the chain of survival,” Maier said, emphasizing the critical role of each step in saving the young patient’s life — a bystander initiated CPR before the three responders took over, multiple agencies joined in the effort and the patient ultimately regained a pulse, was flown to a hospital and made a full recovery with no neurological deficits.
Nationally, the survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests is around 10%, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Maier noted that such a complete recovery is relatively rare, calling the responders’ actions “amazing.”
“These guys did everything they were supposed to do. Without their quick response, we would have had a vastly different outcome,” he added. “Everybody came together, worked as a team and made a difference in this person’s outcome. We’re here to recognize them today for their part in it.”
Maier, responsible for EMS training across multiple area departments, praised the team for representing their organization with excellence during the lifesaving effort.
Local Chief Chris Botello echoed this sentiment, stating that the award is not just for them, as the three saviors got to perform on behalf of their whole department.
“The training paid off, and someone survived,” Botello said.
