Federico Pellegrino was working at the Providence Water Supply Board last October when he suddenly collapsed.
Pellegrino, 60, was in cardiac arrest; his heart had stopped and he wasn’t breathing.
On Wednesday, nearly a dozen members of the Providence Fire Department were recognized for their role in saving Pellegrino’s life during ceremony at Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick.
Dr. Heather Rybasack-Smith, a medical director with Brown Emergency Medical Services, credited Pelligrino full recovery to the quick response of Pellegrino’s co-workers and the quality care he received from Providence firefighters/EMS crews.
“It’s an example of how the system worked so well,’’ she said, “from that crucial bystander CPR, to buy him time, (to) EMS efforts to get him to the hospital viable…”
Pellegrino’s co-workers immediately started performing chest compressions, Rybasack-Smith said, and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to shock his heart once before the ambulance crew arrived. The EMS crew used a laryngeal mask airway or LMA — a less-invasive alternative to a breathing tube — to deliver air into his lungs, she said. The crews worked on Pellegrino for more than 30 minutes, administering 13 additional shocks and medication, before taking him to Rhode Island Hospital.
Rybasack-Smith presented the first-responders — including seven firefighters/EMS workers and three dispatchers — with Brown EMS Pride Awards — for their service as Pellegrino looked on.
“I don’t remember passing out and I don’t remember coming back,’’ he said.”I just know when I did come back I felt happy.”
