Fire department honors lifesavers

For Erin Youngblood, it was “a parent’s worst nightmare.”

Her 18-month-old son, Brady, was choking. He couldn’t breathe.

“You think you know what you would do if your child was choking,” Erin said. “… But when that moment actually happens, all can you think is, ‘What do I do?’”

Prodded by her 5-year-old daughter, Molly, Erin remembered to call 911. Chief Gene Shepherd remembered hearing the call come in, and his blood ran cold.

“Your heart sinks when you hear this call,” Shepherd said. “(You) pray everything will be alright.”

Just a few minutes later, paramedics from the Shelby Township Fire Department arrived at the Youngblood home, followed a short time later by Brady’s dad, Joe Youngblood, the township’s assistant parks and recreation director.

“I got the dreaded call and hurried home right away,” Youngblood recalled. “It was a very surreal scene. Not until after did I realize how close (Brady) was to true cardiac arrest.”

Battalion Chief Doug Miller and paramedics Joel Morris, Frank Pierce, Matthew Tidrow and Jeffrey Chesnutt made up the crew that responded to the 911 call.

After initial difficulty, the medics were able to dislodge a piece of food stuck in Brady’s throat, get the child breathing and transport him to Troy’s Beaumont Hospital.

But the Youngblood’s nightmare wasn’t quite over. Hospital personnel struggled to stabilize Brady. He had to be airlifted via helicopter to Beaumont’s facility in Royal Oak. The boy remained overnight for observation, but the next day doctors pronounced him fine.

With Erin acting as family spokesperson, the entire Youngblood family appeared at the township’s Board of Trustees meeting to help honor those firefighters who worked on Brady. All were presented Certificates of Appreciation for their efforts.

“What made this so special is the people who saved his life are part of our community,” Erin said.

The five men who teamed to save Brady Youngblood’s life were among 10 Shelby Township firefighters honored by the department and the township.

Lt. Inspector Edward Vojtush along with Morris, Tidrow and Chesnutt were cited for their work in trying to save the life of a fire victim last September.

Vojtush, who was in the vicinity performing a fire inspection, arrived at the burning home before other firefighters. He entered the house and helped the occupant escape the flames. The three medics tried to save the victim’s life, but he later succumbed to his injuries.

In March 2009, four other firefighters unwittingly exposed themselves to toxic chemicals while trying to help a man who had attempted suicide.

The firefighters responded to a call of a man slumped over the wheel of a car and entered the vehicle without knowing the man attempted suicide by mixing chemicals. Firefighters were able to transport to the victim to a hospital for treatment. They were eventually given an all-clear on their exposure.

Cited for their efforts in the attempted suicide case were Lt. Michael Gaydos and medics Andrew Rae, Christina Champagne and Scott Dykes.

“Thanks to these employees, a life was saved and countless others spared the risk of exposure,” Shepherd said.