From cleaning up after dinner to saving a life, it was all in a day’s work for Spencer Shea.
Though he has been with the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company for less than year, Shea’s quick action to save an unresponsive 18-month-old child in September earned him the Company’s Merit Award.
The Merit Award is given for exceptional meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The performance must have been such as to merit recognition of key individuals for service rendered in an exceptional manner. Only four Merit Awards have been given in the Company’s history.
The CTVFC Board of Directors agreed Shea’s actions on Sunday, September 20 warranted this award.
Shea was cleaning the kitchen at the Company’s Route 19 station at around 6 p.m. that evening when the front doorbell rang. He found two adults and two young children yelling that a child had a seizure and was not breathing.
Shea took the 18-month-old female into his arms, and noticed she was blue. He began performing resuscitation actions until the child’s eyes began to open and color returned to her face. Shea walked the family next door to Cranberry EMS where paramedics were awaiting their arrival.
The child was transported for evaluation and is alive partly thanks to Shea’s quick actions.
“We believe that there may have been a different outcome had Spencer not gotten involved in this situation,” said Assistant Chief John Pristas. “He has shown great initiative during the time that he has been a member at CTVFC, and we believe he will continue to make an impact on the future development of the fire company.”