I am writing to praise our North Whidbey Fire and Rescue team. On Tuesday, July 20, following a surgery the previous day, I started choking on some pretzels and couldn’t breathe. My husband valiantly tried the Heimlich maneuver on me but it wasn’t working. I was choking to death!

My husband called 911 on the speakerphone and spoke to the operator while still trying to revive me. Within minutes they were at our home to save me. We live on an unmarked dirt road “path” yet they were able to get here in minutes. Obviously, they were successful or I wouldn’t be writing you. I want to commend them for their speedy service, professionalism and calm manner in addition to their excellent technical skills.

Also, they have now returned today (Monday, July 26) to locate our fire hydrant hose connection which is buried 20 feet under the ground near our wetland. It is excellent prevention, doing it now in the daylight instead of some dark night when our house might be burning down.

Again I’d like to commend the North Whidbey Fire and Rescue team and the EMT’s. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful, well-equipped, professional service at our disposal.

Erlene Little

Deception Pass