Fire Department Presents Department Awards

REDLANDS >> Redlands Fire Department Engineer Shawn Corbett was named Firefighter of the Year and several department personnel received recognition, including lifesaving and CPR awards during a ceremony at the downtown Redlands Fire Station. In presenting the Firefighter of the Year Award, Redlands Fire Chief Jeff Frazier noted Corbett’s critical duties as a fire apparatus driver and operator, his role as coordinator and lead instructor of the department’s swift water rescue program and his initiative in earning certification as an instructor for the State Fire Marshal’s Office Fire Engineer Driver/Operator training. Once he obtained his certification, Corbett coordinated and instructed state-authorized classes for RFD as well as other agencies across Southern California. He customized the training to include guest presenters from the California Highway Patrol and the City of Redlands Fleet Maintenance Division. He later developed a similar course for drivers in the City’s Municipal Utilities and Engineering and Quality of Life departments. The son of retired Redlands Police Officer Mike Corbett, Shawn Corbett began his career in the fire service with CalFire where he served for three years before joining the Redlands Fire Department in 2003. In 2006, he was promoted to Engineer. Corbett is certified as a State Fire Instructor for Hazardous Material First Responder Awareness Level, Hazardous Material First Responder Operational Level, Confined Space Rescue Awareness, Low Angle Rope Rescue Operations, Basic Emergency Vehicle Operations, Basic Pump Operations and Auto Extrication. He is also a certified instructor of the National Highway Institute’s Traffic Incident Management Responder Training course. Corbett is a long-standing member of the Redlands Fire Department Honor Guard, representing the City and the Department at memorials, parades, and other ceremonies. He coordinated the “Lighting the Way 5K 10K Walk Run,” which raised funds for the Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern California and has served as a Camp Counselor and Youth Advisor for Pathway Church in Redlands and a local Redlands home for boys. This year he traveled to Oman on a 10-day voluntary and self-funded trip where he provided training on disaster preparedness, fire safety and situational awareness to some of the emergency service workers of that country. In his spare time, Corbett is actively training for his third “Ironman” competition in the coming year. CPR Save Awards were presented to Capt. David Ketcherside, Engineer Clint Ketcherside, Firefighter/Paramedic Chris Harrison, Capt. David Denman, Engineer Dustin Whitaker, Firefighter/Paramedic Lorenzo Rocha, Capt. Mike Howard, Engineer Joshua Hannan, Firefighter/Paramedic Matthew Swenson, Capt. Chris Randolph, Engineer Brad Byers and Firefighter/Paramedic Michael Leinen. A Lifesaving Award was presented to Firefighter/Paramedic Mark MacDonald. The Department’s Civilian Service Award was presented to Diane Rivera-Sedgwick. Volunteer Service Awards were presented to Tod Sudmeier and Redlands Emergency Communications Group Chief Radio Officer Lucy Rebuck-Dressel. Explorer Service Award went to Abraham Zermeno. The Community Service Award was presented to Engineer Matthew Ley and Firefighter/Paramedic Steven Leverette. A copy of the citations read for each award recipient follows: Community Service Award: It is one thing to volunteer for a single event. But it’s another to have continued commitment to serving the community. These two individuals set themselves apart from the rest with their consistent loyalty and dedication to community service. Being involved in, and building a relationship with the community is one of the pillars of our department, and these two men have assisted Redlands in such a way to set a new standard of selfless community service. Bowling for Burns, Car Shows, Golf Tournaments, are examples of just a few of the worthy projects they have been committed to. We are extremely proud to have them as members of the Redlands Fire Department Family. The Community Service Awards go to Engineer Matthew Ley, and Firefighter/Paramedic Steven Leverette. Explorer Service Award: We have a fantastic group of Explorers this year. But one of them has distinguished himself from the rest. This young man has far exceeded all of our expectations for a Fire Explorer. He has volunteered his help for most of our important events. He has exhibited commitment, passion, discipline, and strong leadership skills on multiple occasions. We commend his efforts and expect great things from him in the future. I am proud to give the Fire Explorer Service Award to Abraham Zermeno. Volunteer Service Award: Our department has been fortunate to have some of the best volunteers I have seen in my years in the fire service. There is a huge amount of terrific work that is done and countless hours that are spent, behind the scenes, helping us do what we do. In fact, we have such incredible volunteers that we are so lucky and grateful to have, that we had to give out two awards to two very deserving people. First Tod Sudmeier, is a nationally recognized photographer who volunteers for the Department and has captured some of the most stunning photographs of our personnel in some amazingly challenging conditions. In fact, one of his photographs was recently recognized nationally by the Fire Department Instructors Conference as the photograph of the year. Our second Volunteer Service Awardee is Redlands Emergency Communications Group Chief Radio Officer Lucy Rebuck-Dressel. Her commitment to our community is nothing less than inspirational. She graduated Oct. 7, 2002 from the very first CERT training hosted by the City of Redlands. She has been an active member of Redlands Emergency Communications Group for nearly 14 years. She has served the Chief Communications Officer for over three years. Regardless of the event, The Redlands Fire Department has come to depend on Lucy for her dedication. Civilian Service Award: This next individual is indispensable to the functioning of the Redlands Fire Department. She treats our department with the same focus and level of care as she would her own family. She puts everything she has into everything she does. Despite 25 years of service, she has a passion and a burning desire (pun intended) to serve the members of our department, our fellow city employees and the residents we are sworn to protect. It is my great pleasure to award the Civilian Service Award to the most dedicated person I know, Ms. Diane Rivera-Sedgwick. CPR Save Award: On November 20, 2015 the crew of Medic Engine 263 arrived on scene to find a distressed mother on the floor who had just delivered a 14 week premature, baby girl as well as the placenta on the floor. Within the first few seconds at the doorway, Capt. David Ketcherside saw the baby take an agonal breath. He picked her up and checked pulses. The baby had failing respiration and a very low pulse rate. He began CPR. The crew began a full work up, and as soon as AMR arrived David and Firefighter/Paramedic Chris Harrison departed with the baby for Loma Linda Children’s Hospital. Engineer Clint Ketcherside stayed behind to assist with patient care for the mother. Capt. Ketcherside and Firefighter/Paramedic Harrison continued CPR, placed an endotracheal tube in the baby’s airway while being rapidly transported to LLU Children’s Hospital. This baby’s life was saved. I am honored to award all three of you with a CPR Save Award. CPR Save Award The crew of Medic Engine 264 arrived at Empire Bowling Alley in May 2015, to find a 91-year-old man lying supine on the floor, in full cardiac arrest. A bystander had started CPR. This crew placed an advanced airway to ensure effective oxygenation, started an IV, administered cardiac medications, and the patient was transferred to Redlands Community Hospital without incident. The man fully recovered. It is notable that Capt. David Denman came to this same man’s aid a SECOND time a few months later. The Marine World War II veteran had a fainting spell at the community center, and Capt. Denman was there to assist him a second time. I am honored to present a CPR Save Award to Capt. David Denman, Engineer Dustin Whitaker and Firefighter/Paramedic Lorenzo Rocha.   CPR Save Award The crew of Medic Engine 261 arrived on scene on April 16 to find Wayne Matthews, a 60-year-old man in full cardiac arrest. His cardiologist later determined that this was sudden cardiac death. His brother Lyle, the Director of Pharmacy at Redlands Community Hospital, who is here tonight, was standing right next to him when he collapsed. Lyle saw that his brother had no pulse and was not breathing, and started performing CPR for about eight minutes before the crews arrived. The official record indicates that Wayne had NO PULSE FOR 24 MINUTES. Wayne was defibrillated (shocked) and an endotracheal tube was placed in his airway and he was ventilated, while the crew continued CPR. Upon arrival at Redlands Community Hospital Emergency Room, Wayne regained pulses. It was determined that he had a heart attack and he was transported to Loma Linda for cardiac care. Wayne was placed in a hypothermia machine for 36 hours to try and minimize neurological damage. He was on a ventilator for a week. Once he was weaned off of the ventilator and medications he woke up, and recognized his wife. Now, two months later, Wayne is home and completely back to normal. Thankfully he has had a full recovery. Wayne, Lyle and their whole family are here tonight. I proudly award Capt. Mike Howard, Engineer Joshua Hannan and Firefighter/Paramedic Matthew Swenson with a CPR Save Award. CPR Save Award Just a few weeks ago, a call was dispatched to Medic Engine 262 of a possible drowning. When the crew of Medic Engine 262 arrived, they found a 1-year-old child on the bed, still unresponsive, in respiratory distress. They assisted with patient breathing, started an IV, and accompanied the ambulance as the child was transported with lights and sirens to Loma Linda University Medical Center. She was discharged just one day later with no deficits. In fact, she is here with her grandparents today! With honor, I present Capt. Chris Randolph, Engineer Brad Byers and Firefighter/Paramedic Michael Leinen with a CPR Save Award. Life Saving Award: On Father’s Day, June 21, 2015, the Redlands Fire Department had two multiple alarm commercial structure fires. Redlands had several units committed to 1601 Barton on the first commercial structure fire occurring earlier. The Department had implemented emergency call back of personnel to provide adequate staffing for the City. Firefighter/Paramedic Mark MacDonald was one of the personnel who left their families on Father’s Day to answer the call. At approximately 6:41 p.m., Redlands Firefighters responded to a report of an apartment fire at 106 W. Pennsylvania Ave. with people trapped inside on the second floor. Paramedic Engine 261A and Paramedic Squad 261 were the first arriving fire units and found active fire on the second floor patio. Firefighters quickly determined that residents were trapped inside. These first arriving firefighters rapidly pulled hose and prepared for fire attack. While setting up for fire extinguishment, Firefighter Paramedic Mark MacDonald along with Redlands Police Officers on scene noticed a family attempting to escape the apartment from a second story window. Firefighter Paramedic MacDonald quickly made contact with the adults at the window and was able to calm them down. Within seconds MacDonald noticed an increase in smoke and quickly made the decision that in order to save the family, he would have to assist the family escape out the second floor window and advised them that he would assist them down. As the adults lowered the two children — a 4-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy — from the window, Firefighter Paramedic Mark MacDonald caught the children and handed them to Police Sgt. John Moore and Officer Joe Valdivia. In total, six people were rescued out the second floor window. Once the family was on the ground they were quickly assessed for any possible injuries. Firefighter Paramedic Mark MacDonald’s quick actions, ability to rapidly gather information and his decision to have the family escape out the second floor window created a positive outcome to a very dangerous and life threating situation. It is with great honor I award you with this Life Save Award. Firefighter of the Year: I am exceedingly proud to announce that Engineer Shawn Michael Corbett has been selected as the 2015 Redlands Firefighter of the Year. Shawn is the son of retired Redlands Police Officer Mike Corbett, who laid the foundations of dedicated service that have resulted in Shawn’s receiving of this award. Shawn began his career in the fire service with CalFire, where he served for three years. He joined the Redlands Fire Department in 2003 and was promoted to Engineer in 2006. In addition to all of his critical duties as a fire apparatus driver/operator, Shawn is the program coordinator and certified lead instructor of the Department’s Swift Water Rescue program. He manages the program and ensures that all RFD personnel, and many surrounding agency personnel, receive annual awareness and rescue training. This includes didactic and manipulative training hosted by Redlands Splash Kingdom Waterpark. He is also responsible for the specification, purchase, inventory and maintenance of all related rescue equipment in place throughout the department. Under his own initiative, Shawn became a certified instructor for the State Fire Marshal’s Office Fire Engineer Driver/Operator 1-A and 1-B training. Having attained this certification, he has coordinated and instructed State-authorized classes for the members of the RFD and agencies across Southern California. Not satisfied with the conventional method of presenting this vital training, Shawn took it upon himself to customize the training to include guest presenters from the California Highway Patrol and City of Redlands Fleet Maintenance Division. This and many other creative innovations have resulted in Shawn’s training courses receiving exceptionally positive reviews. Based on the success of the State Fire Driver/Operator training, Shawn was encouraged to develop a similar course for the drivers of the Municipal Utilities and Engineering and Quality of Life departments. This training has contributed to safer and more efficient operation of vehicles by City of Redlands equipment operators from multiple departments. In addition to the Swift Water and Apparatus Driver/Operator trainings, Shawn is certified as a State Fire Instructor for the following disciplines: Hazardous Material First Responder Awareness Level, Hazardous Material First Responder Operational Level, Confined Space Rescue Awareness, Low Angle Rope Rescue Operations, Basic Emergency Vehicle Operations, Basic Pump Operations and Auto Extrication. Shawn is also a certified instructor of the National Highway Institute’s Traffic Incident Management Responder Training course. Shawn’s strong work ethic and dedication extends well beyond his educational and professional accomplishments and is evident in his extensive volunteer service in Redlands and elsewhere. Shawn is a long-standing member of the Redlands Fire Department Honor Guard where his selfless and voluntary service has represented the City and Department at memorials, parades, and other ceremonies with pride and professionalism. Shawn also coordinated the “Lighting the Way 5K 10K Walk Run,” which raised funds for the Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern California. He has also served as a Camp Counselor and Youth Advisor for Pathway Church and a local Redlands home for boys. This year Shawn traveled to Oman on a 10-day voluntary and self-funded trip in which he provided training on disaster preparedness, fire safety, and situational awareness to some of the emergency service workers of Oman. In his spare time, Shawn is actively training for his third “Ironman” competition in the coming year. Shawn’s selfless contributions to the fire service and his community—both in Redlands and beyond—is a clear embodiment of the RFD’s values and commitment to service. It is for these reasons, that it is my distinct honor to honor Engineer Shawn Michael Corbett as the 2015 Redlands Firefighter of the Year.