A Northeast fire district emergency medical technician remained in critical condition Friday morning after collapsing the night before while trying to resuscitate a man who had stopped breathing at a Northwoods shopping center.
The man, whose identity could not be confirmed, died.
Scherese Bishop, 37, was one of four Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District employees who responded about 5 p.m. Thursday to the Sav-A-Lot store at the North Oaks Plaza Shopping Center in Northwoods to treat the man after he collapsed. As Bishop was administering CPR on the man, she herself collapsed.
Northeast Deputy Chief Quinten Randolph said that when Bishop collapsed, she was without a pulse.
Bishop’s co-workers attempted to resuscitate her while still trying to revive the man, Randolph said. The two were taken by Northeast and University City ambulances to Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Hospital staff said Bishop was in critical condition Friday morning.
Randolph said the cause of Bishop’s collapse was unknown. "Our prayers go out to her family," he said.
Bishop was hired by Northeast in August 2008 as a part-time EMT. She has a 9-year-old daughter and lives in the fire district.
Several area fire departments and districts offered their own equipment and firefighters to cover for the Northeast crews Thursday night, allowing many of Bishop’s co-workers to keep a vigil at the hospital.
Northeast board member Bridget Quinlisk-Dailey said the district’s employees were distraught over the incident. "The whole firehouse is heartbroken," she said.
