Cardiac arrest after responding to two calls
United States Fire Administration
The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Firefighter/EMT Alan Dean Basso, 59, of Cowlitz County Fire District 5, on November 27, 2020.
On the morning of Friday, November 27, 2020, Firefighter/EMT Alan Basso responded to two medical emergency calls, the last one dispatched at 0848hrs. Later that day, at 1355hrs, Basso was driving in the downtown area of Kalama when his vehicle collided with several parked vehicles. He was unconscious and not breathing, suffering a cardiac arrest. Citizen CPR was immediately initiated by a nearby off-duty Portland firefighter, 911 was summonsed, and Cowlitz County Fire District 5 resources arrived on-scene. Immediate advance life support measures were administered, and Basso was then transported to PeaceHealth St. Johns Medical Center where, despite all efforts, he was pronounced deceased.
Firefighter/EMT Basso’s service work history includes five years with the Washington Department of Natural Resources as a seasonal firefighter, one year with Washington State University as a firefighter, 2 ½ years with Cowlitz County Fire District 5 as a career firefighter, 21 years with Cowlitz County Fire District 5 as a volunteer firefighter and Captain, and 21 ½ years as a career firefighter and Lieutenant with the City of Longview Fire Department.
Tribute is being paid to Firefighter/EMT Basso at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 81 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2020. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/ff_fatality_reports.html
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
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