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; Chelsea Fire and Rescue; Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Photos by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Award recipients from left: Cahaba Valley Fire Department.
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Photos by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Award receipients from left: Cahaba Valley Fire DepartmentAward receipients from Chelsea Fire and Rescue; Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
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Photos by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Award receipients from left: Cahaba Valley Fire DepartmentAward receipients from Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
Public safety officials from throughout Shelby County were honored for their service to their respective departments at the Annual Safety Awards Community Luncheon presented by The Shelby County Chamber.
Individuals were recognized based on the outstanding excellence in public safety they have demonstrated and presented with a plaque.
“This program is an opportunity for us to personally give thanks to the fire, police and sheriff personnel, and honor them for the outstanding service and sacrifices they make each day in keeping our respective communities a safe place to live, work, and play,” said chamber president Kirk Mancer.
Cahaba Valley Fire and EMR District
Four members of the Cahaba Valley Fire Department were recognized for their heroic efforts when responding to a residential structure fire call in the early morning hours of June 21.
The crew of Fire/Medic Andrew Dunlap, Fire/Medic Michael Foshee, Firefighter Robert Baylis and Lt. Nick Burch arrived on the scene and assisted in locating, removing and performing resuscitation efforts on a victim.
Chief Buddy Wilkes said that although the outcome wasn’t what they wanted, it didn’t change the efforts that the men put in.
Chelsea Fire and Rescue
Cpt. Josh Rossetti received this award for his assistance and response during the Lifesaver helicopter crash incident on April 2. He responded initially to the patient complaining of chest pain. Rossetti and his team traveled on a path a mile from the roadway into the woods carrying their equipment on foot to reach them. The patient was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest. They performed lifesaving measures and the patient regained a heartbeat but not consciousness so Rossetti requested the assistance of a Lifesaver helicopter.
The crew loaded the patient into the transport unit to meet up with the helicopter when the patient went back into cardiac arrest. He ordered the transport unit to proceed to the ER and canceled the Lifesaver request. They drove up on the downed helicopter in the roadway.
Rossetti worked as a flight medic as his second job and had personally flown with this flight crew and knew each of them. After the helicopter was unable to land safely, he powered down the helicopter, shut down the fuel supply and extinguished the flames.
Chief Joe Lee said Rossetti went “above and beyond his call to duty and it took a strong nerve and a cool head to perform under such stressful conditions and that’s exactly what Captain Rossetti did.”
“He represents the kind of attitude and dedication of training and knowledge that we look for in our department.”
Shelby County Sheriff’s Office
The Chelsea Fire Department let Sheriff John Samaniego know about something Sgt. Jayme Moore was recognized for a call he assisted with in the city of Chelsea of someone who was in a mental health crisis in one of the businesses. He used his deescalation skills to calm the person and noticed she had a set of keys and with his experience and intuition, he took the keys and went to check the car where he found an infant in a locked car in a carseat in the hot car, saving their life.
“That’s one of the many things Jamey does,” said Sheriff John Samaniego. “On that day he demonstrated compassion for the adult patient, then he displayed courage and calm to deescalate the situation. He has a steadfast devotion to duty and experience is what saved that infant’s life. Most people at 25 years of service taper off, but he doesn’t. He’s still in go.”
