The Greater Long Beach Chapter of the American Red Cross honored 22 heroic individuals at its fifth annual Hometown Heroes Awards Ceremony.
The Outstanding Corporate Hero Award went to Boeing.
Among the recognized heroes:
Jack Lee and Steve Roberts: The two saved Hunter Cairns, who collapsed last July while playing baseball for Los Alamitos High's team. Watching from the third-base line, grandfather Lee -- a retired Long Beach fireman -- and Roberts, a friend and an active firefighter, ripped open the player's shirt and started CPR until paramedics began defibrillation. After the first shock, Hunter started breathing on his own. He was taken to a hospital, where 17 hours later, he regained consciousness.
Antonio Rosales: Last June, Rosales was doing his rounds in the Long Beach parks and headed to North Long Beach where he saw a work crew member jumping and waving at him. Workers had accidentally cut an electric line that ran along the water main, and one of his workers had been electrocuted. They were calling paramedics and flagged Rosales down. He ordered the power shut off and went to the trench where the electrocuted person had been knocked out. Rosales and several of the workers pulled the injured man out of the trench. However, the victim had no pulse, and Rosales began CPR with chest compressions. After receiving just a few compressions, the victim began breathing and coughing up blood. About that same time, the paramedics arrived, treated the victim and transported him to a hospital.
Morgan Kaczor: In February 2009, Cal State Long Beach student Kaczor was working at Captain Jack's in Sunset Beach when she heard a scream at the back of the restaurant. A patron was choking and coughing frantically. On the second thrust Kaczor applied more pressure and suddenly a large chunk of prime rib came flying out of the woman's mouth and into a friend's purse. The paramedics credited Kaczor for saving the customer's life.
Gloria Lurie: She's a special education teacher at Jefferson School in the Bellflower Unified School District. During the first week of school last fall, a kindergarten student fell out of her chair, apparently having a seizure. Lurie directed one classroom assistant to sweep the girl's mouth to remove the food she had been eating, another to crush some pills for when the girl recovered, and another to wait by the phone to call paramedics. The seizure lasted about 30 seconds before the girl relaxed. But the 5-year-old stopped breathing. Lurie sat down next to the child, got her on her back, tilted her chin and began rescue breaths. After Lurie gave about five rescue breaths, the girl began to breathe on her own again. The paramedics transported the child to a hospital.
Kevin Byrne: A Long Beach firefighter, Byrne was enjoying a game of recreation league basketball in Newport Beach while off duty last July. A teammate collapsed in full cardiac arrest. While others called paramedics, Byrne and a firefighter from Orange County jumped into action, giving CPR for about four minutes, until the paramedics arrived.
Jim Odessky: In August, Odessky and a friend spotted a motorcyclist down in the middle of the street. The motorcyclist, who had been thrown about 40 feet from his motorcycle, was trying to move and get up. Odessky, who is a lifeguard and EMT, realized that if the man did not hold still he might suffer serious long-term effects. So he stopped the injured motorcyclist from getting up, while asking him questions to gauge his mental status. The motorcyclist was not able to answer simple questions, indicating a serious head injury. So Odessky slipped off the man's helmet, which was pulled tight against his mouth and throat, restricting breathing. The injured man was combative, perhaps as a result of the head injury, but Odessky was able to hold him in a position that immobilized his spine and kept his breathing clear until the paramedics arrived.
Adriana Lopez: On Aug. 10, Lakewood resident Lopez saved her 3-year-old son while at a family barbecue. He had grabbed a large piece of meat from her plate, stuffed it into his mouth, and almost immediately began to choke. Fighting back panic, she picked her son up, bent him over her arm, and began giving him back blows. The second blow worked and her son expelled the meat.
Andy Nakamura, Lenny Arkinstall, Laurence Walker, Robert Taylor, Tony Esparza: Early in December, Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Department employees Nakamura, Walker, Taylor, Esparza and Arkinstall were at the Marine Maintenance Facility when their supervisor shouted for help because a boat had come into the dock with an unconscious man. The owner of the boat had piloted it into the station because a friend had passed out from breathing problems while fishing.
The unconscious man was in cardiac arrest, with his heart fibrillating. The five city workers acted as a team providing CPR and alerting paramedics.
Jessie Rellosa: On June 24, Bellflower resident Jessie Rellosa was in an English class at Long Beach City College, attempting to come up with a good idea for an essay, when a student collapsed from a seizure. Jessie shouted for someone to call paramedics, then turned the student sideways to reduce the risk of him injuring himself. Jessie kept the ill student in the sideways position until the shaking stopped. Jessie then checked the student's condition and discovered a very slow pulse and shallow-gasp breathing. Fearing a possible cardiac arrest, he began chest compressions until the student regained consciousness with a start.
Sandy Ferguson and Hayley McDonald: In September, McDonald and Ferguson were dropping off rescued puppies at a pet shop in Long Beach, when a woman came running in from the parking lot holding an unconscious child. The woman had been dropping off her dog and returned to her car to find her 14-month-old daughter not breathing. Although there were seven or eight other people in the shop at the time, only Hayley and Sandy knew CPR, and they worked as a team. Paramedics arrived shortly and rushed the girl to the hospital for observation.
Jennifer MacDuff, Richard Martinez and Robert Vazquez: MacDuff teaches a "Run-Power Walk" class at Liberty Park in Cerritos, for the ABC Unified School District; Martinez and Robert Vazquez are students in that class. In April 2009, the students were doing their timed laps as when another student collapsed. MacDuff recognized the symptoms of a heart attack, and she paramedics and took the student's pulse. Martinez helped roll the student over. Vazquez also helped. The three checked the student's pulse, lifted his chin to clear his airway and began CPR. Vazquez monitored the vital signs, MacDuff gave the initial rescue breaths and Martinez began chest compressions. Paramedics credited the trio with saving the student's life.
The Greater Long Beach Chapter of the American Red Cross serves the communities of Artesia, Bellflower, Catalina Island, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Paramount and Signal Hill.
