Snellville, Ga. (August 2, 2024) – Piedmont Eastside Medical Center has named Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services Paramedic and Firefighter, Luke Holbrooks as the August First Friday Hero.

One day, Piedmont Eastside received a stroke alert with some severe symptoms, including: inability to speak/find words, right-sided weakness, severe facial droop, and vision loss.

The patient was able to get treatment at Eastside, very quickly, thanks to the pre-arrival notification of Holbrooks.

The patient and EMS crew were greeted in our emergency department by our stroke team, led by our ED charge nurse, Anisha Holbrooks, Luke’s pregnant wife, at the time. Together, they got the patient to CT immediately and Anisha mixed, dosed, and administered the thrombolytic medicine, TNK, to the patient in record timing: 16 minutes, keeping the patient alive and stable.

The patient improved, but it was discovered on the next CT scan that the patient needed a higher-level of care. So, the patient was flown out via helicopter and immediately went to surgery.

Piedmont Eastside uses this program to recognize first responders each month who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

“Their line of work is often a thankless job, and we want to make the community aware of our local heroes and all they do to make Gwinnett County a better and safer place,” said Piedmont Eastside CEO Larry Ebert.