Saving a life was a team effort among Falls Township’s first responders recently.
During a recent July Falls Supervisors meeting, Fire Marshal and Assistant Township Manager Rich Dippolito presented citations to members of the Falls Township Police Department, Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad, Levittown Fire Co. No. 1 and Morrisville Rescue Squad for the collective effort to save the life of Falls resident Cathy Lizotte.
Lizotte, the mother of Levittown Fire Co. No. 1 member Zach Lizotte, was suffering from cardiac arrest on the evening of June 21 when Zach called 9-1-1 and began giving his mother CPR.
Levittown Fire Co. No. 1 Chief James Bray and the rescue squad from Levittown-Fairless Hills arrived with Michael Lowe and Tyler Horvath. They determined Mrs. Lizotte was in ventricular fibrillation and administered two shocks from their defibrillator and continued CPR and respirations. Police officers Dean Stecklair, Matt Shannon, and Alex Sansone, as well as Morrisville Rescue Squad members Richard Brandau and Andrew Hotzman also arrived to assist.
“The team effort restored her heartbeat and undoubtedly saved her life,” Dippolito said as he presented the citations.
Supervisor Jeff Boraski shared information about the lifesaving event with Dippolito, who was happy to acknowledge the township’s lifesavers and said he’d like to recognize first responders more often for their selfless acts of heroism.
“I don’t think we do that often enough. A lot of it is taken for granted,” Dippolito said. “We don’t have too many outcomes that we can sit here and say, ‘this was due to a team effort.’”
Even though he is an active firefighter, Zach Lizotte received a civilian citation since he helped his mother while not on duty. Bray, Lowe, Horvath, Brandau, Holzman, Stecklair, Shannon, and Sansone received a unit citation.