Detroit Fire Department honors heroes with special ceremony

The Detroit Fire Department honored its own Tuesday with a ceremony for a job well done.

On April 14, two paramedics were called to a Detroit home and were told someone is having trouble breathing.

"When I pulled up, it was a lady outside on a cell phone. She opens the door and grabs me. I never have that. So she says, we have four people in the house that are passed out -- two kids and two adults," said paramedic Tony Mitchell.

The EMTs rushed inside and saw a man vomiting over a garbage can. They didn't know what's wrong, but their training kicked in.

"Me and my partner looked at each other and we said maybe we probably shouldn't be in here, but we have to do it. We have kids in there and they're barely breathing or whatever. We had to do what we had to do, and we got them out," Mitchell said.

Two adults and two kids were saved from high levels of carbon monoxide.

Those two EMTs were among of several men and women honored for their life-saving efforts.

Firefighters, EMTs and police, all worked together to save a pregnant woman who was trapped in the Detroit river near Riverside Park.

The first responders essentially formed a human chain to get her out of the water, and an officer jumped in to save her.

"In my 28 years of public safety and law enforcement, this is the clearest example of working together and the results speak for themselves," said Eric Jones, Detroit fire commissioner.

These heroes are just a fraction of the first responders who keep us safe every day.

When you talk to them it's clear -- they are just as humble as they are brave.

"I love my job. I love the City of Detroit," said paramedic James Wilson.

"If you love your job, you work for free. And I love my job," Mitchell said.