Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad Honors Heroes

Chief Christopher Reif honored and presented life-saving awards to three civilians and rescue personnel who saved the life of Tom Hosbach, a 67-year old resident who was golfing at Oxford Valley Golf Course.

Mr. Hosbach went into cardiac arrest on April 9, 2012 and collapsed on the third tee.

Ken Morgan, Joe Meyers, and Peter Horsley, playing on the fifth hole, were quickly on the scene and began to perform CPR while calling 9-1-1 for assistance.

“The whole reaction was that we knew we had to do something,” explained Horsley.

“I did compressions on Tom’s chest and I did breathe for Tom…I didn’t know if I was exactly doing it right, but I knew basically where to push on his chest, and how hard. I was scared to death and I was yelling at Tom, every time I had the chance, for him to wake up. I was also yelling at Ken to dial 9-1-1, which he was.”

All three men were awarded the Civilian Hero Award at the Falls Township Supervisors meeting held Tuesday night.

“The courage of a few bystanders that day gave paramedics, firefighters, and hospital staff a fighting chance to save this man,” said Chief Reif.

Also recognized at the meeting were the paramedics, firefighters, and Emergency Department physician Dr. Emerick from Aria Bucks, who was awarded the Healthcare Hero Award after performing CPR for more than 40 minutes.

“It was a great collaboration and if one of those chains broke he would have not survived,” said Chief Reif. “It was also a great collaboration between Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad and Fairless Hills Fire Department.

“The civilians were instrumental in this, if they wouldn’t have started CPR and called 9-1-1 there would have been a delay in us getting there and his heart would have not survived.

“At the end of the day things did work out, the emergency squad got there,” added Horsley.  “It’s a difficult thing to talk about only because you never think that you are going to be involved in a situation that does save a life.”