FULLERTON : 7 Honored for Saving Boy’s Life

A team of emergency medical workers received commendations this week for saving the life of a 3-year-old Fullerton boy who cut deeply into his own abdomen with a circular saw.

The City Council honored two paramedics and other emergency workers who rushed to the aid of Ryan Galvan, who was nearly cut in two in the July 17 accident at his parents’ home.

Receiving commendations were Fullerton Fire Capt. Robert Dunkel, paramedics Richard Hutchinson and Tom Schultz, firefighter James Worthy, emergency room nurse Hermine Stricklin and Southland ambulance attendants Rhonda Hall and Brian Speer.

Stricklin, a nurse at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, had been riding along with the paramedics that day.

Doctors credited the team’s pre-hospital care with saving the boy’s life. The power saw cut into Ryan’s abdomen, cutting into his intestines and leaving the intestines wrapped around the blade.

Firefighters chose not to remove the saw from Ryan’s stomach and instead cut the power cord and wrapped the intestines in a trauma pack. Their actions helped prevent further organ damage and loss of blood, doctors said.

To make matters worse during treatment, the paramedic’s radio link to the hospital failed and the pressure suit they placed on Ryan to prevent shock leaked so badly that Worthy kept it inflated by blowing into it with his mouth.