Crime & Safety

EMS Crew Saves One of Its Own

Medic Ronald Immel goes into cardiac arrest while out on a call and is saved by his crew mates.

The following is a press release from Good Fellowship Ambulance.

Good Fellowship Ambulance was dispatched for a unresponsive person at S. High Street & E. Rosedale Ave. in West Chester Borough. Ambulance 551 and Medic 91 responded along with West Chester University Quick Response Service 58 (WCU QRS 58). The patient had been loaded into the ambulance for transport to CCH for abdominal pain, the crew was Jeff Kobernick, Ronald Immel and Wilbur Emmons the paramedic from Medic 91. After the patient had been loaded, Jeff Kobernick went around the street side of the unit to begin to drive to the hospital, Ron was going around the curb side of the vehicle and Will Emmons was with the patient.

At this time Jeff Kobernick heard a thump, he thought it came from within the unit. As he looked in the mirror on the curb side he did not see Ron Immel and was confused as to Ron’s whereabouts. Jeff Kobernick then exited the ambulance and proceeded around the front of the unit to find Ron Immel laying on the ground with blood coming from his head. He then approached Ron Immel and determined that Ron was pulse less, not breathing and was not conscious. Jeff then yelled for Will Emmons to assist. At this point a second unit was dispatched to the scene for a cardiac arrest.

The WCU QRS 58 heard this and immediately returned to the scene to assist. At this point the QRS continued CPR for approximately one minute, meanwhile Will Emmons applied the Philips MRX (Heart Monitor/Defibrillator) and determined that Ron was in ventricular fibrillation. He then proceed to administer one shock to Ron. Once the defibrillation took place, Ron regained consciousness with return of spontaneous circulation. Ronald Immel was placed in the ambulance and transported to CCH for definitive care.

Had it not been for the quick and decisive actions of Mr. Jeff Kobernick and Mr. Wilbur Emmons, the life of one of our own Ronald Immel would not have been saved. Jeff and Will gave Ron the “Gift of Time”.

Find out what's happening in West Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After recuperating, Ron has returned to full duty status as an operations supervisor since August of 2012. Never in my 32 years in EMS have I dealt with a crew saving their own provider. Although these providers were just doing their job, they never expected to have to be doing it to one of their own with such a outstanding outcome.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.