LIFE SAVERS.
Eight Town of Bracebridge employees were honoured Feb. 1 for saving the life of a patron at the sportsplex in December, including (from left) Tom Young, Linda Hillman, Barbara Summers, sportsplex patron Anita Jarrett, and town employees Kim Ball, Joanne Buie and Fyonna Vanderwerf. Missing from the photo are fellow honorees Tatum McCool and Diane Wiber.
Photo by Louis Tam
BRACEBRIDGE — Eight Town of Bracebridge employees were formally honoured Feb. 1 for their lifesaving efforts in December.
Most of the staff were in a meeting on Dec. 19, 2011 at the sportsplex, when they were notified of a medical emergency on the walking track. A patron, Anita Jarrett, had collapsed from a heart attack. The eight employees rushed to Jarrett’s rescue, administering CPR and using a defibrillator.
The eight employees credited with saving Jarrett’s life are Linda Hillman, Barbara Summers, Kim Ball, Joanne Buie, Tatum McCool, Fyonna Vanderwerf, Diane Wiber and Tom Young.
“Without the quick action and quick thinking and good training of the staff at the Bracebridge Sportsplex, Anita Jarrett might not be with us here today,” said Mayor Graydon Smith.
Just one month after the ordeal, Jarrett was on hand during the ceremony to thank the employees. She credited the training town staff received for saving her life.
“Though they had never done so together before, they immediately began working as a well-coordinated team to deliver CPR and to administer a defibrillator,” she said. “By coincidence, two of them were trained by my daughter, Sarah North Harris.”
Smith, Bracebridge human resources assistant Susan Keast and Muskoka emergency services director Terri Burton presented the eight employees with special certificates commemorating their rescue efforts.
“Approximately 40,000 Canadians a year experience a cardiac arrest,” said Burton. “What all the staff did in December was immeasurable.”