Here Are Just 3 Incredible Life-Saving Stories Involving the Heroic Portland, Maine, Fire Department

Emergency responders are heroes through and through, but often, unless something is affecting you specifically, it's easy to overlook the efforts these people put forward each and every day.

Because we should be applauding the amazing work they do.

The Portland, Maine, Fire Department shared a Facebook post near the end of November that highlighted just a few of the emergencies their crews have had to deal with.

One day in November involved back-to-back cardiac arrests, the Fire Department stated.

According to the post, a person collapsed, and the Portland Police Department was able to provide CPR and get a pulse back before they were taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, that person went into cardiac arrest again, but the fire crew was able to get "a few rounds of Advanced Cardiac Life Support" and get a pulse again, the post stated.

To top that off, not long after, another call came in for the Fire Department regarding an overdose that led to cardiac arrest. Thankfully, CPR, several rounds of defibrillation, and medications were used in order to get that person to regain their pulse before they were taken to the hospital.

The real good news is that both of those people were able to leave the hospital and eventually go home after the emergencies, the Fire Department stated.

And to think, those were just two calls on a day that had one of the fire crews responding to 54 runs during a 24-hour shift. Makes you rethink how busy your days are, right?

The Portland Fire Department also noted another cardiac arrest emergency in November, which positively ended with life-saving measures being initiated before that person was taken to the hospital.

That instance even had a probationary firefighter "working his very first shift since graduating drill school last week and this was the first call that he ever responded to," according to the Fire Department.

Talk about getting your feet wet immediately.

Wondering how many cardiac arrest emergencies there normally are?

Just to give you an idea, according to Maine.gov, in 2019, "there were 1,607 cardiac arrests in the State of Maine where resuscitation was attempted by EMS."

Ultimately, these instances the Portland Fire Department shared are just a fraction of the work they have to do regularly.

Hats off to the Fire Department and the number of other fire crews, police officers, emergency responders, and more in Maine that take measures to save lives and help our communities. A big thanks for all that you do.