Matt Palamara Honored For Saving Life at Fish Fry

Matt Palamara Honored For Saving Life at Fish Fry
As usual, Matt Palamara, a Gulf Shores seasonal lifeguard, was frying fish on a Lenten Friday at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church. He has been leading his church’s fish-fry crew for many years. The director of the Coastal Community College Culinary Arts program, Matt knows his way around a kitchen. As a certified lifeguard, he also knows how to respond to a medical emergency. Although he wasn’t expecting to use his medical training to save a patron’s life when he was frying fish that evening, his actions immediately after a person fell onto a sharp end of his own cane probably saved the man’s life, according to the responding medics who nominated Matt for a City of Gulf Shores lifesaving award. “Matt quickly jumped into action and applied pressure to the wound using towels and called 911,” the nomination letter read. “The bleeding was still severe and uncontrolled after applying pressure, so Matt placed a tourniquet made from a belt about two inches above the laceration.” ” Palamara was given his award at the April 8 Gulf Shores City Council meeting. “The patient could have easily bled out and lost his life that night had Matt not been there with his quick thinking in life-saving skills,” said GSFD Chief Mark Sealy (pictured with Matt).