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www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, July 14, 2 0 1 7 |10 Troupe thanks firefighters for their life-saving efforts continued from p.1 Soon, they were relieved to hear the sirens and within minutes their backyard was filling with emergency personnel. Erin Troupe was working at the Starbucks at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital when she got a call from her mom, letting her know her dad would be arriving soon. "It was very overwhelming," she said. "I went running over to emergency and couldn't stop pacing." SteveTroupe was in a motorcycle shop when he received a message from his sister-in-law. He turned white as he read it. "Steve, it' s Carmen. It' s 10 to 12. Tim just passed out. They are doing CPR. Please come over." Steve and Tim' s brother, Chris, died from a heart attack on Boxing Day, just hours after a family dinner. Now less than five months later, Steve was at risk of losing another brother. Oakville Fire and Halton EMS arrived at the Troupe home within four minutes. And while the family struggled with fear and uncertainty, the strangers who had arrived minutes earlier performed like a finely-tuned orchestra. "We probably had 11 or 12 people in our backyard, firefighters, police, ambulance, para medics, all working together," Carmen said. "And they were so calm." "When we arrived at the scene, we went to work," said Oakville firefighter K.C. MacKen zie. "We started compressions so (EMS) could do more advanced treatment." Paramedics used a defibrillator to restart Troupe' s heart. Oakville Fire Capt. Bob Jones said this is usually the toughest time for families, who des perately want to see their loved one in the am bulance on the way to the hospital as quickly as possible. "Most people don't realize the EMS has the same advanced life care as the hospital," he said. "In the back of that ambulance they've got everything to get going. Whatever they're going to be doing at the crash centre, they're doing (on scene)." Halton EMS continued to treat Troupe as he was transported to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. He was later transferred to Trillium Oakville resident Tim Troupe, centre, visits first responders from the Oakville Fire Department whose efforts, along with those from EMS officers, helped him survive a cardiac arrest on May 17. Pictured, from left, Troupe's brother Steve Troupe, Tim's wife Carmen Troupe, Henry Simpson, Oakville Fire Capt. Bob Jones, James Newton, Tim, flanked by daughters, Erin Troupe, left, and Emma Troupe, right, K.C MacKenzie and Sean Alexander. | Quin Vertolli photo Health Care Centre. Tim Troupe remembers none of it. He re members sitting down at the picnic table -- there were no warning signs of what was about to happen -- and then waking up the next morning in the hospital. "It' s very emotional," the 59-year-old said. "Once you find out what' s happened, at first you're sad that it' s happened and then the emo tions really come out. It' s hard to explain, and then you realize you're lucky to still be there." Eight days later Troupe underwent a qua druple bypass. For the first responders, patient confidential ity usually keeps them from finding out what becomes of the people they treat. "You send them off and hope for the best," Jones said. "W hen I was younger, it was tough er. Now it' s part of the job." By coincidence, a couple of weeks later, a friend of the Troupe family was telling the story to one of MacKenzie' s friends and they pieced together the connection and let the firefighter know Troupe had survived. The Troupes also knew retired fire captain Dave Quigley, who knew the crew that re sponded to the call and arranged a meeting be tween them Sunday. Less than two months after they found him in his backyard, bleeding and not breathing, Tim Troupe walked into Oakville Fire Station 1 to meet them. "You really feel the appreciation for them," an emotional Troupe said. "Once something like this happens, you realize how important these guys are to everyone." "I've always had an appreciation for first responders but after seeing them (in action), it' s heightened even more," Carmen Troupe added. It was a rare moment for the firefighters as well. Jones, who has been a firefighter for 24 years, didn't experience his first successful save until a few years ago. James Newton, another member of the crew who treated Troupe, said advancements are helping improve the chances of survival. "We're getting more and more as technol ogy and medicine improves and we get better trained paramedics and firefighters," he said. "You do what you can in any given situa tion," MacKenzie said. "It' s a great opportunity to be able to meet someone who has survived, especially in his condition." But whatever advancements are made, there will always be a need for first responders to ad minister treatment under difficult conditions. "How fast they got there really saved his life," Emma Troupe said. "I couldn't be more grate ful." J p J O H N P A L A D IN O LAW OFFICE w w w . jp la w . c a L e a s e B u s te r s .c o m is t h e la rg e s t v e h ic le le a s e m a r k e tp la c e in C a n a d a . W e 'll u n lo c k y o u f r o m y o u r v e h ic le le a s e c o m m it m e n t ... s a v e t im e , e a r ly t e r m in a t io n fe e s a n d p e n a ltie s . C a ll n o w f o r a fr e e c o n s u lt a tio n 1 -8 8 8 -3 5 7 -2 6 7 8 o r v is it u s a t w w w .L e a s e B u s te r s .c o m · REAL ESTATE · WILLS & ESTATES COMMERCIAL LEASING · CORPORATE I 447 Speers Road, Suite 200B, Oakville, ON L6K 3S7 I | Phone:905-842.3311 Fax:905.842-7433 | Ik 1& U S T E R S E A SE . .COM