By Natalie Hale
Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
Copyright 2007 The Deseret News Publishing Co.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — As David Thompson stiffly pushed his walker to the front, the packed Karen Gail Miller conference center became quiet.
The more than 300 people attending the Utah Emergency Services awards sat attentively, waiting as Thompson readied to speak.
“I would like to thank the great people for taking care of us the way they did,” Thompson said, in a raspy voice. “It is unbelievable that I am standing here today. I will never forget them, thank you.”
Thompson had been involved in a fatal head-on collision Dec. 23, 2007. The driver and a passenger of the car he was in died as did the driver of the other car.
“Extraordinary people, extraordinary service” was the theme of this year’s awards, which were presented to more than 100 people this year for their courage and ability to handle emergency situations. Thompson spoke when those helped by Emergency Medical Service workers were invited to the podium.
Two students, Sara Bunn and Chantelle Cordon, were awarded outstanding citizens awards for performing CPR on a fellow classmate at Fremont High School. Their knowledge and skills saved the life of their friend who had collapsed and stopped breathing because of an undiagnosed heart condition.
Joy and Jarad Minor also received outstanding citizen awards for their quick action in finding 2-year-old Jaxon Miera, who nearly drowned when he fell into Farmington Creek in April.
The largest group to receive recognition was the responders to the Trolley Square Shooting on Feb. 12. Sixty-four members of the Salt Lake City Fire Department, Salt Lake City dispatch, Southwest Ambulance and Gold Cross Ambulance were honored for their rapid responses and management of the largest mass shooting in Utah.
Their organization and execution of aiding victims has now become a national example of efficiency in handling such incidents, said David N. Sundall, emcee of the event and executive director of the Utah Department of Health.
Dr. Frank Thomas, who was awarded emergency physician of the year, was grateful EMS men and women were being publicly recognized for their courage and hard work.
“It shows and symbolizes the state of Utah recognizing those people who care for them in their time of need and recognizes the best of the best,” Thomas said. “Because of these guys, people get another day, another life with their families. I consider it an honor to work with these people.”
Joseph Treadwell, who was awarded EMS Technician of the Year, recounted a sobering moment in his 26-year career when he discovered a child pinned beneath her mother in a car accident on Christmas Eve. As he pulled the mother off the child, he couldn’t help being reminded of his own daughter and how it drove him to do everything he could for the young girl.
“No matter how seasoned, experienced and professional you are ... it’s difficult to deny those triggers that remind you of your own children when the patient in front of you is the same age, has the same flowing brown hair, has the same feeling in your arms. It only increases the desperation in that moment and only increases the empathy you feel for the family.”