Fergus resident Jamie Hiller, who has been a volunteer firefighter with Centre Wellington Fire Department for 28 years, is being recognized for saving a man's life.

Hiller is among three recipients awarded the Firefighter’s Medal of Merit, which is given to any firefighter in Ontario for commendable service above the call of duty from the Fire Fighters Association of Ontario.

On Jan. 19, 2019, Hiller was off-duty and travelling north on Highway 6 in Fergus with his daughter, when a vehicle pulled out in front of them without warning.

The driver of the vehicle had had a heart attack and his vehicle crossed over both lanes of traffic before crashing into a snowbank. He was unresponsive.

Hiller explained what was going through his head during those moments.

“I had to make the scene safe that was first priority, and then just going straight into first aid (CPR) it’s instinct, we train, at the fire department we train on it regularly so it becomes second nature for us,” Hiller said.

Hiller had to smash out the man’s rear passenger window, then crawled inside the vehicle, put it in park, unlocked the driver’s side door, and then quickly assessed the man to learn he had no vital signs. Hiller said he got the man out and started to perform CPR.

“CPR needs to be initiated almost immediately […] definitely CPR saved his life, everyone should know CPR,” he expressed.

After performing several rounds of CPR, paramedics from Guelph-Wellington EMS arrived on scene, Hiller joined them inside the ambulance while CPR continued on the man.

The man was taken to St. Mary's Hospital Cardiac Unit in Kitchener, and that’s where doctors told his family that the only reason he was alive was because of Hiller’s quick actions to save his life.

In the last five years, Hiller has been a part of two other rescues while he was off-duty.

Hiller said in all three of his off-duty rescues, everyone involved has survived.

“I felt safe doing what I was doing, but definitely it was my training [that] was a huge help, had I not been as well trained as I am, I don’t things would have turned out the way they turned out,” he said.

He added that it’s an honour to receive the medal of merit, and that he’s proud to be a Centre Wellington firefighter, as the organization is known across the province for its training.

Jamie Hiller, Centre Wellington volunteer firefighter: 

The Fire Fighters Association of Ontario (FFAO) sent out a tweet about those awarded the Firefighter's Medal of Merit. Photo courtesy of the FFAO Twitter account.