Petaluma Fire Captain Credited With Saving Boy's Life

A Captain with the Petaluma Fire Department and his wife are being credited with helping save an 8-year-old Rohnert Park boy who suffered cardiac arrest after being hit with a ball during a Little League game last Saturday.

Dan Farren and his wife Sue, an executive with Falck Ambulance, were at the Cal Ripken baseball game Saturday afternoon watching their own son play when Little Leaguer Matthew Henry collapsed in the field.

The Farrens sprung into action, performing CPR for five minutes prior to the arrival of the first emergency responders. Once medics arrived,, they shocked the boy’s heart with a defibrillator and transported him to Santa Rosa Memorial and later to Children’s Hospital in Oakland, where he still remains for observation. 

Local emergency personnel say the event highlights how knowing CPR can often make a difference between someone living or dying. It takes first responders an average of five minutes to arrive to a medical emergency, enough time for someone to suffer serious brain damage if their heart has stopped.

On a national average, over 90 percent of cardiac arrest victims do not survive and last year 28 Petaluma residents died as a result of sudden cardiac arrest. 

To help reduce the number of cardiac arrest deaths, The Petaluma Fire Department, along with this year’s Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class, is providing free “Hands-Only” CPR training this spring and summer at Casa Grande, Petaluma, San Antonio and St. Vincent’s high schools, as well as at other community events throughout the year. 

Look for them at the Butter and Eggs Day in front of the downtown fire station on April 27, at the Salute to American Graffiti on May 18, at City Hall on May 20 from 5:30-6:55pm before the regular council meeting and at the Petaluma farmers markets on Second Street on June 5 and 26. 

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