BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Holly Schiferle and her husband Jim Zymanek are firefighters and EMTs with the Williamsville Fire Department.
Just a couple of weeks ago they were in Michigan, visiting Holly’s sister and her husband, Kim and Dan Carpus.
Kim and Dan are also EMTs with their local fire department, the Milan Area Fire Department in southern Michigan.
They live in a rural area and it can take a while for emergency services to arrive when you call 911.
On April 25th, the four of them drove to a car dealership where Dan was going to pick up his car. That's when they heard a big crash.
The four first responders ran to the scene, grabbing their medical gloves they always carry with them.
They found a silver sedan crumpled and a red Jeep on its side.
Jim and Dan went to the sedan and found a woman slumped over. At first, they worried she may be dead but the men lifted her chin up and stabilized her neck, which allowed her to breathe.
At the same time, Holly and her sister ran to the Jeep. They could see the driver in that vehicle hanging down toward the passenger side still strapped into the seat belt.
Kim hoisted Holly up and she was able to open the door and start talking to the woman.
Soon the local fire department arrived. Jim said he introduced himself to the local first responders and grabbed an axe to bust out the windshield of the Jeep so that they could pull that woman out.
The two couples had never been able to work together as first responders before that day.
“It's the first opportunity because there normally wouldn't be one that we were able to join forces, and as a team of four assist on a scene," Holly said.
“We just went into our mode," Jim said. "As you get into this, you've been doing it for a while, you get into that mode and you just go ahead and do. And it worked very, very well for us.”
Dan said “It was highly satisfying to feel like we did something that made a difference. Not that you don't have that feeling when you're dispatched to one of your own runs. But we just happened to be in the right place at the right time for someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Volunteer fire departments across our region are looking for new recruits. Jim explained that you don't have to go into burning fires. You can sign up to do duties on the outside or specialize in emergency medical response.
