Dayton City Council honors police, fire and EMS for April resuscitation that saved resident

Dayton City Council on May 27 publicly commended Dayton Police, Dayton Fire and North Memorial crews for responding to a medical emergency on April 8 that left an adult male without a pulse and later revived him.

The recognition came during the council's "board recognition" segment, when Chief Engel described the on-scene response and named the personnel involved: Officer Brian Murphy, Officer Eric Jutinen; Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Astra; Fire Captain Joe Tiedemann; firefighters Ralph Ash, Lucas Harrod, Sharon Bogle, Bill Bogle, John Knutson and Brad Bergeman; Paramedic Captain Tim Hagers, Paramedic Malena Hall and EMT Aaron Hawkinson. Chief Engel said, "Tom was given a critical second chance thanks to their rapid response, advanced training, and unwavering commitment."

The man rescued, identified in council remarks as Tom, addressed the council and the emergency crews. He told the council, "Without your response time, your training, your incredible ability to execute, in a time of crisis, I would not be here." A member of the Schmidt family was mentioned during the presentation as expressing gratitude for the additional time with their husband and father.

The presentation included statistics about out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and framed the outcome as the result of coordinated work across three agencies and hospital follow-up care. Council members and staff invited Tom and family members to stand with the first responders during the recognition.

No formal council action or policy change accompanied the recognition. The ceremony was limited to public thanks and naming of individuals involved.