The U.S. Fire Administration recently shared a report on a Texas firefighter who died in late November 2015.
Firefighter Richard J. Cano of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department worked a 24-hour shift from 0600hrs on November, 21, 2015, to 0600hrs on November 22, 2015. During that shift, Cano responded to three incidents. Cano was dispatched with Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department’s Engine 1 to the last of these incidents, a three-alarm apartment fire, at 0138hrs and cleared the scene at 0345hrs.
At the end of his shift at 0600hrs, Cano returned home and went to sleep. At 0845hrs that same day, Cano’s wife observed him in distress and subsequently stop breathing. She immediately called 911.
Upon arrival, responders found Cano’s wife performing CPR. Care was taken over by the ambulance crew and advanced lifesaving measures were performed during transport to the hospital. Cano was turned over to a hospital emergency room nurse with a pulse.
He was in the hospital’s intensive care unit for a week but never regained consciousness. Firefighter Cano passed away on November 29, 2015, at 1930 hrs.
