Whiz Kid: Eli Perper

Name: Eli Perper

School: Senior at

Accomplishment: Eli is a volunteer at the Laurel Volunteer Rescue Squad in Laurel, Maryland since December 2010.  His duty night is Thursday, where he is required to spend a minimum of four hours responding to calls and assisting with work around the station.  Some nights, he works 12 hours shifts, gets sleep when he can, and is back in school early the next morning.

In the course of volunteering, Eli has been on several important calls. One of the most interesting was when he and 30 other fire and rescue personnel had to move a disabled man weighing 640 lbs down three flights of stairs in his wheelchair in order to transport him to the hospital to diagnose the source of his chest pain. While not formally trained as a firefighter or EMT yet, Eli assists with tasks such as taking blood pressure, moving patients to stretchers, spiking IVs at the bag, and pulling hoses off the engine.  He was recently certified in CPR and hopes to take the Fire Fighting I class this summer through Laurel Rescue Squad.  In the fall Eli will attend Montgomery College to major in Fire Science and Emergency Services Management.

In addition, from December 2008 to March 2010 Eli was a Junior member of the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Bethesda, MD.  He also ran all types of calls while at BCC, including many ambulance calls to help elderly patients in distress.

Key to awesomeness: Eli has been the youngest member of both stations he has volunteered with, but has a great ability to get along with adults. In addition, Eli is incredibly perceptive and learns by doing.