A crew of rescuers from the Ypsilanti Fire Department has been honored by the department for their work in saving the life of a 65-year-old man who went into cardiac arrest last year and walked out of the hospital on his own.

The fire department personnel recognized last week for their work are: Capt. Michelle Stanbury, Lt. Scott Maddison, Firefighter Jeffrey Davis, Firefighter Rod Soyka, Firefighter Joey Knasiak and Firefighter Jameson Schultz.

While firefighters may get an average of one call every 10 days for someone in cardiac or respiratory distress, it's unfortunately much more rare for the person to survive, said Capt. Max Anthouard, EMS coordinator for the department.

In the case from December last year, the crew discovered the man lying on the floor of his living room in the 300 block of South Street. He had no pulse and wasn't breathing.

The crew got to work.

"The person must be focused" in an emergency rescue, Anthouard said. "I tell them, 'Just go into EMT mode. Just like in training.'"

All personnel at the department are prepared to perform CPR for up to 30 minutes total at the scene, rotating every 2 minutes.

"The way we do CPR these days, it's very physical," Anthouard explained, because of the strength and precision it takes to deliver chest compressions. "In the summer, you're sweating."

After several minutes of CPR on the man in December, there was good news. The crew felt a pulse.

You hope to feel a pulse within 10 minutes of resuscitation, Anthouard said, but "as early as possible is better."

Rescuers from the fire department and Huron Valley Ambulance raced the man to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.

Under department standards, a patient must walk out of the hospital of their own accord and live for several weeks after the rescue in order to count as a "saved person."

Anthouard estimated the department gives out two to three life-saving awards a year.

And while rescuers may never hear whether a person survives or get a chance to talk to the person later, when they do, it's "the top of your profession," Anthouard said.

"You cannot get better than that. That's what we work for and train for," he said.