Yvonne Johnson was home in Silver Spring one afternoon last month when she got word her husband of 58 years had collapsed of a stroke. She ran across the street to a neighbor, who drove her to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Northwest Washington.
By the time she arrived at the Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospital, Ramon Johnson, 77, was nearly alert, and doctors said he had an excellent chance of making a strong recovery.
On Tuesday, doctors credited the firefighters and paramedics from Engine 31 and Ambulance 20 with quickly diagnosing Johnson and getting him to the hospital in time to receive a clot-busting drug that can help restore a patient’s motor functions. After several years and a steady stream of news about delays in responding to emergency calls, some with dire consequences, the D.C. fire department has begun a new campaign to highlight successes. Last month, firefighters saved a man after he pulled up to a fire station in a car, honked his horn and then collapsed of a heart attack.