Members of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department’s Engine 37 and Rescue 27 were recognized and honored Friday morning for their lifesaving efforts on January 16 and 24.
A ceremony at Dallas Fire Station No.37 on Greenville Avenue honored emergency personnel for saving the lives of two people who also share a unique connection beyond the sudden cardiac arrest they suffered.
Dallas Fire and Rescue responded to calls for Robert Black and Winnie Turner a week apart in January.
DFR responded to a call on Sarah Nash Court where Black lay unconscious on his kitchen floor. His wife had found him there and immediately began CPR, according to Dallas Fire and Rescue.
When first responders arrived at the scene, they took over the lifesaving efforts and achieved what medical personnel call ROSC (Return of Spontaneous Circulation).
“To be there at these patients’ most critical moments and being able to do our jobs and to do it well enough and precise enough to see an outcome like this [is great], especially for CPR. The odds of someone coming back from a code from a CPR like this are slim to none,” firefighter/paramedic Ricardo Roman told The Dallas Express.
“It means the world to us because this is what we signed up to do as paramedics,” he added.
Roman explained to The Dallas Express that when such outcomes happen, he’s joyful.
“To see these patients here walking and talking with us, it fills us up with joy, and we don’t do this for the thank yous. Just to see them here, it means the world to us,” Roman added.
DFR transported Black to Presbyterian Hospital, where he was treated and eventually discharged, neurologically intact, and made a full recovery.
Black spoke to The Dallas Express and praised Engine 37 and Rescue 27 for saving his life.
“I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for Dallas Fire and Rescue,” Black told The Dallas Express.
Just one week later, the same engine and rescue responded to a call of an unconscious person in a home on Desco Place.
Turner was found unconscious on the kitchen floor, according to DFR. In her case, a 911 operator led the homeowner who found Turner through steps to give her the best chance at survival until first responders arrived to continue the lifesaving measures.
These stories are unique because while the cases were unrelated in cause, the patients were well acquainted: Turner is Black’s longtime housekeeper.
In another coincidence, Black’s son is an ER doctor and a former Dallas firefighter.
Dr. Alex Black, also a former UT Southwestern medical student and Parkland Health emergency medicine resident, now works as an attending resident in the emergency department at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
Engine 37 and Rescue 27 were honored with a commendation for their lifesaving measures.
Many first responders will say they’re just doing their jobs. Sometimes, though, their jobs place them in situations where minutes can mean the difference between life and death.
Turner and Black know that all too well.
“The importance of CPR and first aid is important, and my mom got a second chance at life. It means the world to me, my brothers, and my entire family,” Isaac Caldwell, Turner’s son, told The Dallas Express.
