Local Heroes and Youngsters to be Recognized at Ceremony Tonight for Helping Save a Life

West Metro Fire Rescue will be honoring citizen heroes tonight at a ceremony celebrating the lives they helped save and their efforts at helping others during emergency situations.

The ceremony will be held at:
West Metro Fire Rescue Training
3535 South Kipling Street in Lakewood
6 – 7 p.m.

Here is a summary of award recipients:

5-year-old Micah Garduno -  5-year-old Micah Garduno called 911 when his grandma had a seizure. Grandma’s convulsions woke Micah up and he asked his grandma if he needed to call for help. Micah found grandma’s cell phone and tried to call grandpa, but couldn’t remember his phone number. That’s when he called 911. Micah was able to tell dispatchers his phone number, what was happening with his Grandma, and then help keep Grandma calm. 

But Micah’s help didn’t stop there. He asked Grandma questions for the 911 dispatcher and then was able to get the code to the front door to let the firefighters in and took care of the dog. Fire fighters were so impressed with Micah’s quick thinking and calm demeanor that they immediate nominated Micah for a 911 HERO Award.

Billie B. and Kimberly M. – 12-Year-old Billie and 8-year-old Kimberly called 911 and assisted their babysitter who was unresponsive from a seizure. Billie had just been taken in by her foster parents, Tom and Teresa, four days before. Billie and Kimberly raced to the phone. Since Billie was taller she got to the phone first to call 911.

Kimberly went back and stayed with Johanna until help arrived. Kimberly’s parents have reviewed with her what to do in an emergency. She knew there was a business card on the refrigerator that had their home address and parent’s cellphone number. Kimberly also opened the door when the emergency team arrived, and showed them where Johanna was.  

Billie relayed helpful information to the 911 dispatchers and the girls also took care of the dog by putting her in another room. 

Lakewood Police Agent Brian Lovejoy – Agent Lovejoy performed CPR on 28-year-old man who was hanging gutters on the roof of a 2-story apartment building when he came into contact with a high voltage power line and was electrocuted. When West Metro crews arrived on scene, they found Agent Lovejoy performing CPR on the victim. The victim was unconscious and unresponsive.  

Fire fighters quickly used a cardiac monitor / defibrillator to shock the patient and regain a heartbeat. However, the real credit for the life saved goes to Agent Lovejoy. When a body goes 4-6 minutes without a pulse or heartbeat, brain damage begins to occur. Because Agent Lovejoy was able to begin CPR right away, his actions led to a successful resuscitation. The patient was able to walk out of hospital. Tonight Agent Lovejoy will be commended for his actions that resulted in a life saved by receiving West Metro’s 911 HERO Life Saving Award.

Kim Taylor – Kim Taylor discovered her neighbor’s apartment was on fire, filling with smoke, and called 911 to save an unresponsive man inside. On April 24, 2010 Kim Taylor was home, up late and watching a movie. This is something she rarely does, but as fate would have it, it was very good she was breaking her routine. As she watched the movie, she kept smelling smoke. She thought maybe it was from a BBQ but knew that they weren’t allowed to BBQ in their complex.

The smell of smoke kept getting stronger. She called her daughter in from her bedroom and asked if she smelled smoke, which indeed she did, so they went outside to investigate. They looked into each unit for signs of fire or smoke but didn’t see anything. They walked around the back of building where the smoke smell was growing stronger and seemed to be coming from their neighbor’s unit next door. There were no visible signs of smoke, so they walked around to the front of the unit where they saw smoke hovering in the light and called 911.
 
Kim knocked on the door several times, hearing dogs barking but getting no answer from her neighbor. When firefighters got on scene and entered the apartment, the smoke had banked down to about two feet up from the ground. The man inside was asleep, unaware his apartment had filled with smoke. His barking dog had failed to wake him. Even firefighters couldn’t wake him and ended up carrying him out of the apartment. Kim’s persistence in finding the source of the smoke smell saved our patient’s life. Odds are that he wouldn’t have woken up and could have died from the carbon monoxide poisoning before the fire was discovered. 

West Metro celebrates the accomplishments of each of these individuals and the lives saved because of their actions. Congratulations!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 1, 2010

CONTACT:
Cindy Matthews, PIO
West Metro Fire Rescue
720-641-5879