MANSFIELD — “Honored” and “humbled.” Those were the words firefighters Ryan Landin and Jermaine Lanier used to describe their reaction to being named Mansfield Fire Department’s EMT of the Year and Firefighter of the Year, respectively.  

“I was actually surprised that I got it,” Landin said. “Honestly, he (Lanier) would have probably gotten it if he wouldn’t have gotten Firefighter of the Year. I learned a lot from him.”

Landin, 32, has been with the department for the past eight years. He is a paramedic and firefighter, currently assigned to B Crew at Station 3.

Lanier, 43, said he, too, was surprised to have been named Firefighter of Year, noting that there are many other members of the department worthy of the title. Currently assigned to A Crew at Station 3, Lanier has been with the department since September of 1998.  

The Mansfield Fire Department recognized these two and other personnel, as well as local citizens during a ceremony Saturday night at the Holiday Inn.

“It’s been a good year for the Mansfield Fire Department,” Lt. Troy Reed said. “We are on pace to pass 10,000 calls this year pretty easily.

“Calls for service keep going up and we keep rolling trucks out the door. Sometimes it’s a little difficult. Sometimes we don’t have enough trucks to do it. Fortunately, the townships are helping out, so we do appreciate all of their help as well.”

Chief Steve Strickling kept his comments brief but made sure to recognize Rebecca Moore, a physician assistant at OhioHealth.

Strickling got to know Moore while working as a physician assistant years prior. He said her husband Dave, who worked at Mansfield City Schools for a number of years, went into cardiac arrest one evening while the two were in Mansfield. Rebecca performed CPR while waiting for the fire department to arrive. Upon arrival, the emergency responders used a defibrillator on Dave.

“It worked,” Strickling said. “It shocked Dave and brought him back. The other thing it did was record his heart rhythm and showed that he was in ventricular fibrillation. That enabled the hospital to take steps to implant a defibrillator in Dave so that he didn’t have that happen to him again.”

Strickling said he wanted to give Rebecca an award, adding, “but I promised her I wouldn’t because she didn’t want an award.”

Rebecca didn’t want to take credit for reviving her husband.

“I did everything I could to bring him back and it was not working, she said.

“They (Mansfield firefighters) brought him back for me and that could have never been done if we were anywhere else…They did everything right.”

The fire department gave out two Citizen Life Saving Awards–one to Phil Iseman for helping a victim who was pinned under a car that had fallen off a jack, and one to Dena Herman for providing CPR to a woman who had stopped breathing at Herman’s workplace (the Mansfield library).

The department also recognized the late Ray-Jean Au, who was given the Citizen Appreciation Award. Described as a dear friend of the department, she would visit Station 3 often and over time she became a member of the fire department family.

Assistant Chief Chris Speelman, Capt. Dave Compton, Lt. Rob Garn, Firefighter Chris Ransom, Firefighter Josh Getz, Firefighter Jed Cronebach, Firefighter Phil Atwell and Firefighter George Williams were also recognized for having received Letters of Commendation for calls that they had responded to.   

The nominees for EMT of the Year included firefighters Scott Miller, Phil Atwell and Jermaine Lanier. Capt. Dave Metz was a nominee for Firefighter of the Year.