A group of CFA volunteers from District 13 have been hailed heroes for saving the life of a NSW firefighter who collapsed on the fire-ground during the unprecedented 2019-20 bushfire season.
Upwey firefighter Jessica Jacobs, Wonga Park Lieutenant Luke Summerscales and First Deputy Group Officer for the Dandenong Ranges Group, Alan Potts were each awarded a Chief Officer Commendation at a ceremony on Saturday 28 November.
The prestigious award officially recognises the volunteers for their bravery and forward-thinking that saved the life of NSW firefighter, John Kennedy on Thursday 28 November 2019.
On that day, the trio were working in the thick of the smoke to conduct back burning around Kaloe Mountain, West of Grafton in NSW as part of CFA Strike Team 1304.
Mr Kennedy was their Divisional Commander, a man none of the volunteers had met before that day – and a man whose life would soon be in their very hands.
Speaking to the Star Mail, Upwey CFA’s Jessica Jacobs never imagined that she would be returning home a life-saver.
“We had a little de-brief about what we were planning to do for the day and then we headed off to the area we were looking after. We were going about half an hour deep into the property on (bull) dozer tracks,” Ms Jacobs explained.
“John was checking in on everyone and making sure we were ok. He got to us and was with us for about two minutes before he called out to me and said Jess, let’s go extinguish the fire over here,” she said.
Ms Jacobs worked with Mr Kennedy on a rocky track on the side of the mountain, with the smoke so thick she had to step away because she was struggling to breathe.
“He stepped back too and walked to the other side of the track. He put his hand up with his hand on his chest and he just dropped,” she said.
Mr Kennedy suffered a severe heart attack, dropping to the dirt where he lay “lifeless” on the steep hill.
“There was no split second to think about what was happening. I threw my hose, ripped my helmet and jacket off and just ran over,” Ms Jacobs said.
“I ended up just ripping his shirt open from adrenaline – I ripped it open like it was a piece of paper and started compressions”.
Ms Jacobs yelled out to her crew for a defibrillator and for someone to make a Mayday call.
Lieutenant Summerscales attempted mouth to mouth and Ms Jacobs attempted CPR before the crews began shocking Mr Kennedy with a defibrillator. With the first defibrillator throwing error codes, the crew were lucky to have a second on standby.
CFA Strike Team Leader from the Dandenong Ranges Group Alan Potts lead his team during the emergency, ensuring the necessary support was provided to the crews conducting CPR and monitored the safety of the back burn.
Other strike team members wet the surrounding ground, held blankets to shield Mr Kennedy from the oncoming fire and made sure he did not roll down the steep slope of the hill.
“He was unconscious and had no heartbeat, I was saying come back and reassuring him that we were going to have a beer together one day,” she said.
The entire ordeal lasted for an hour and twenty minutes, with Mr Kennedy’s heart restarted by a defibrillator four times.
“You could see the looks of despair, we were looking at each other like we don’t think his coming back but we were not going to give up,” Ms Jacobs said.
“We were in the middle of nowhere and had to think outside the box. One of the members thought about grabbing a breathing apparatus and opening it really lightly, which meant he had fresh air near him because we had a large fire metres away from us,” she said.
Navigating the ambulance proved difficult given the teams were 300km from their closest town and half an hour into dense property with no road mains.
“We used latitude and longitude to try and explain where we were.”
“There was no, yeah we’re on the corner of Barry and Henry Streets, we had to navigate the emergency crews to us,” she said.
The rescue helicopter was unable to land or winch a doctor down to where the crew were due to the dense bush and rocky tracks, so trucks drove to the highway to allow ambulances to follow them in.
Mr Kennedy was flown to a Grafton hospital and later a Gold Coast hospital, where he recovered fully.
For Ms Jacobs, the thought that she saved a man’s life hasn’t fully sunk in.
“The time I realise the most what I’ve done is when I speak to John and he says you’re my hero, thanks so much. We’ve now got this amazing bond” she said.
While the pair haven’t yet caught up for that beer due to Covid, Mr Kennedy plans to come down to Victoria with his wife and son to catch up with the volunteers who saved his life.
He made a speech via Zoom at the presentation on November 28 and continues to express his heartfelt gratitude towards Jess and strike team 1304 for giving him another chance at life.
With defibrillators not compulsory in CFA trucks, Ms Jacobs is now an advocate for the importance of every brigade having one, as well as first aid training.
“I’m going to preach to everyone about buying a defibrillator until they’re sick of it,” she said.
Upwey CFA has purchased more defibrillators since the event, and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service have now placed defibrillators in all their Fire Response vehicles as a result.
