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Members of Firefighter Band Help Ailing Parade Float Driver

NBC Universal, Inc.

A group of off-duty Massachusetts firefighters in a bagpipe and drum band participating in a Fourth of July parade jumped into action when the driver of a parade float went into cardiac arrest.

The members of the Greater Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums were behind a school near the end of Sunday’s parade in Quincy when they heard a commotion, according to a Facebook post by the Quincy firefighters union.

They noticed the driver of a flatbed truck hauling a float slumped over the wheel as the vehicle slowly rolled forward.

Members of the band jumped into the cab, stopped the truck, pulled the ailing driver free, and started performing life-saving measures. Someone retrieved a defibrillator from a fire truck, which was used to administer two shocks and revive the driver, who was then taken to a hospital.

More people may have been hurt as a large crowd had gathered behind the school, the union said.

“Awesome job by everyone involved this morning. Just another example of how we are always ‘on duty’ in the fire service,” the union posted.

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