Boca firefighters, Ocean Rescue, police officer honored for saving drowning victim

Boca Raton — Fire Chief Tom Wood presented firefighters, Ocean Rescue lifeguards and one Boca Raton police officer with the departments “Excellence Award” for helping to save a 16-year-old Boca Raton resident from drowning.

The ceremony took pla

ce Aug. 3 at the Fire Administration Building at 6500 Congress Ave. The incident took place July 18.

According to reports, about 4 p.m. that day, Lt. Patrick McGlamery, a lifeguard, noticed a swimmer had been swept into a rip current in front of tower #17 just south of the north tunnel to Spanish River Park.

As Lt. McGlamery quickly approached the exhausted, panicked swimmer, he witnessed the victim submerging. Pulling the victim to the surface, Lt. McGlamery made his way toward shore where he was met by other members of his Ocean Rescue team.

Performing life saving skills, the lifeguards treated the patient until firefighters arrived. Fire Rescue crews continued to perform advanced life saving measures including CPR and advanced airway management and transported 16-year-old Nicholas Donev to Boca Raton Community Hospital.

Fire Chief Tom Wood welcomed the teenager, his parents Blazo Donev and mother Mary Blakeman, to meet and thank the men and women who helped save the young man’s life.

Chief Wood also presented “Excellence Awards” to Firefighter/Paramedic Rich Rafalski for his work in developing the “Fire Station Open House Tours” and Paramedic Captain Shaun Fix for 20 years of outstanding work at the Clinical Conference of Pre Hospital Emergency Care in Orlando.

Boca Raton Fire Rescue acknowledged two promotions; Lieutenant Jeff Rupp to Training Captain and Firefighter / Paramedic Rhett Martin to Paramedic Lieutenant.