FHS Staffers Commended By Township Council For Life-Saving Actions

Mayor Phillip Kramer looks on as Township Councilwoman Shanel Robinson reads a council commendation for FHS athletic staffers. Attending were, left to right, Dan DiColo, Chris McEvoy and Matthew Ellmyer.

Six members of the Franklin High School athletics staff were commended Feb. 9 by the Township Council for their actions in saving the life of their colleague.

Athletic trainer Matthew Ellmyer and gym teachers Scott Burd, Anthony Racioppi, Dan DiColo, Chris McEvoy and JaMon Dunn were praised by the council for their “selfless act of bravery and heroism” in saving the life of Anthony Brito, an athletic trainer who suffered a seizure in the men’s locker room on Nov. 25, 2015.

According to the commendation, Ellmyer, Burd and Racioppi immediately began CPR when they found Brito had no pulse.

Meanwhile, DiColo dialed 9-1-1 and McEvoy retrieved an automated external defibrillator which Dunn assisted in placing on Brito, according to the commendation.

No shock was administered because the AED detected a pulse, according to the commendation.

Brito has since made  full recovery and has returned to work.

The men “demonstrated great bravery, quick thinking and heroism through their rescue of Anthony Brito from a potentially life threatening situation,” according to the commendation.

Mayor Phillip Kramer, a neurologist, said it was one thing to be faced with that situation in a hospital environment, but quite another in “a public setting where you’re not sure where the equipment is.”

The group’s actions were “very commendable,” he said.

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