March 23, 2023 Bartow County Firefighter Matthew Smith, 41, was stricken at the Bartow-Cartersville Fire Joint Training Center.
Source Firehouse.com News
A Georgia fire and rescue department is preparing to offer a final salute to a fallen brother.
Bartow County Firefighter Matthew Smith, 41, collapsed during a training exercise on March 16, according to 11 Alive.
He died Tuesday, six days after the incident at the Bartow-Cartersville Fire Joint Training Center.
During an exercise in the search maze, instructors noticed he was suffering ‘an acute medical emergency’ and removed him from the area, Resuscitative measures, including advanced life-support care, were initiated, The Calhoun Times reported.
His cardiac function was restored and he was placed on life support. He died of complications about 5 p.m. Tuesday
Smith’s sister is grateful for the support from his fire department family.
“I have never met so many people that genuinely love someone like they do,” she wrote in a note to a reporter. “This was clearly God’s way. Everybody kept telling us it could not have been a better scenario because EMS was on scene already, since they were training.”
He is survived by a 13-year-old son and a 22-year-old he took in to stay with him.
Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Sunday, March 26 at Owen Funeral Home, 12 Collins Dr., Cartersville, GA
The Celebration of Life service will begin at 2 p.m.