By Jennifer Mann
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A Northeast fire district emergency medical technician who collapsed while trying to resuscitate a man died Friday afternoon at Barnes-Jewish hospital in St. Louis, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Scherese Bishop, 37, was one of four Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District employees who responded about 5 p.m. on March 3 to the Sav-A-Lot store at the North Oaks Plaza Shopping Center in Northwoods to treat a man after he collapsed. As Bishop was administering CPR on the man, she herself collapsed.
The man, whose identity could not be confirmed, died.
Northeast Deputy Chief Quinten Randolph had said that when Bishop collapsed, she was without a pulse and that her co-workers attempted to resuscitate her while still trying to revive the man. She had last been reported in critical condition at the hospital.
Hospital spokeswoman Valerie Hoven said Bishop died at 3:12 p.m. Friday. The death could not be confirmed until this morning.
The cause of Bishop’s collapse is still unknown. She did not have any known pre-existing medical conditions.
Bishop was hired by Northeast in August 2008 as a part-time EMT. She has a 9-year-old daughter and lived in the fire district.
Several area fire departments and districts offered their own equipment and firefighters to cover for the Northeast crews the night of Bishop’s collapse, allowing her co-workers to keep a vigil at the hospital.
The Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team is assisting the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District with the funeral arrangements, which are pending.
“This is a tragic event,” said Scott Barthelmass, spokesman for funeral assistance team and the Eureka Fire Protection District.
“We have an EMT who is trying to save the life of someone who is in cardiac arrest. The EMT then herself suffers a medical emergency and collapses. It is a great loss for her family, the Northeast Fire Protection District, and the community.”
Republished with permission from stltoday.com