At 6:22 on the morning of December 8, 2014, the Station 3 and 15 teams, both located in the Sud-Ouest borough, received a call that someone had been struck by a train at the corner of rue Bridge, in their area.
When they arrived on the scene, it took the firefighters a few minutes to find the young 21-year-old woman, who had been lying on the ground for about three hours, with her legs cut off. Despite the freezing temperatures, she was still conscious. The first response firefighters rushed to give her first aid.
As they worked, the firefighters kept talking to the victim. She had not only lost part of her legs, but her fingers were completely frozen. When the Urgences-santé paramedic ambulance technicians arrived they quickly took charge and rushed the victim to the Montréal General Hospital. When the very worried firefighters asked one of their Urgences-santé partners about the young woman’s chances of survival, the answer was not reassuring. The incident shook the firefighters, who had no further news of the victim.
In early February, Captain François Poulin, Station 15, Group 4, informed Chief of Operations Benoit Brouillard (135-4) that the young woman was indeed alive. She had given a number of media interviews and was still in hospital. Captain Poulin took the initiative to call the hospital and ask for her news. Delighted to be able to talk to her, he asked whether she would be willing to meet the firefighters who had rescued her. She was happy to agree to meet the men who had helped her survive.
A meeting was planned at the hospital on February 3, 2015. Along with the young woman’s mother and Chief of Operations Brouillard, seven of the eleven firefighters who had rescued the victim visited her. “It was a highly emotional occasion, full of heart-warming joy for everyone, including the young woman and her mother,” says
Chief of Operations Benoit Brouillard.
The efficiency and sense of duty of the men from units 203, 215 and 415 went a long way toward ensuring the young woman’s survival. We salute the tremendous generosity of captains François Poulin (15-4) and Yves Lavoie (3-4), eligible firefighter Philippe Côté (3-4) and firefighters Éric Lamer (15-4), André Laperle (15-4), Jonathan Poitras (15-4), Denis Gauthier (3-4), Gaétan Bazinet (3-4), Philippe Côté (15-4), Philippe Lanciault (14-4) and Kevin Race (3-4). Congratulations on showing such professionalism during the rescue.
Collaboration: Chief of Operations Benoit Brouillard (135-4)
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