A man was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after being pulled from the water at Revere Beach.
Massachusetts State Police said when they arrived to the beach for a possible drowning just before 3 p.m., bystanders had already pulled the man from the water.
Jaclyn Firestone, who works at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said she sprang into action.
"I ran over there after I saw the lifeguards bringing the man out to shore to try and help them," recalled Firestone.
She said by the time she got to the man, most of the lifeguard's efforts were unsuccessful.
"The lifeguards were doing compressions. They kept switching on and off," said Firestone. "There was another girl that was helping, I put pads on. We tried to do a shock but it wouldn’t do anything."
Jasmine Jones recorded cell phone video as state troopers rushed to toward the man.
"They did CPR for at least like 20 minutes, so it was already bad," she said.
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Witnesses say his condition went from bad to worse.
“The tide kept coming up and then after the tide moved they had to like draf him up farther onto shore.”
“By the time he got to the sand, he wasn’t responding," said one woman who was at the beach with her daughter. "It's very sad. Very traumatizing."
About 1500-feet away, the Revere Fire Department, which had been practicing water rescue drills, jumped in to help.
"We got in our 4-wheel beach vehicle and assisted lifeguards and state police," said Revere Fire Department Captain Mark Wolfgang. "When we got there they were doing CPR with lifeguards. We transported the patient up to the street where we met the ambulance."
The man, who was unresponsive, was taken to Whidden Hospital where he is listed in critical condition.
