Plant City Fire Rescue Firefighter Paramedic Jake Elliott

Firefighter of the Year

On September 24, 2015, Firefighter Paramedic Jake Elliott responded to the aid of a young man who had been seriously injured while cutting down a large oak tree. A section of the tree had collapsed, crushing the man’s head and rendering him unconscious. Because of the nature and extent of his injuries, extreme care had to be taken in order to prevent motion of his head and neck while at the same time attaining an open airway. It was later determined that his neck was fractured in addition to the obvious head trauma. Any motion during the process of securing an airway would have paralyzed  or killed the patient according to Tampa General, the Trauma Center that received the patient.

Recognizing his patient’s needs, Firefighter Paramedic Elliott took command of the situation by stabilizing his fractured neck, securing an airway, and according to Tampa General, saving his life. Less than two weeks after the incident the patient, still battered and bruised from his ordeal but exceedingly grateful, stopped by the Fire Station to thank Firefighter Paramedic Elliott and the crew who had aided him . “I still have a long way to go to get back to work but thanks to you I’m alive.”