Detroit emergency responders honored for life-saving efforts

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Firefighters and emergency medical technicians in Detroit on Tuesday for their life-saving and critical response efforts.

Responders were acknowledged during a ceremony at the city's Public Safety Headquarters.

The actions leading to the honors include the rescue of residents from burning buildings and the rescue of police officers, an EMT crew and a patient from trapped vehicles after a patrol car and an ambulance crashed.

It was an emotional morning for Miley Lanton, a 14-year-old girl who was shot in the head in October during a drive-by shooting. She spent Tuesday morning thanking the emergency responders who saved her life. 

Michael Morgan remembers her desperate plea for help that Sunday night on Apoline.

"It was actually please just save me. Please just save me. ... Everything was so fast, I knew that it was effortless, and I had to do my due diligence to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible," he said.

Morgan was honored along with other paramedics and firefighters for their bravery, quick thinking and heroic actions.

"If not for the diligence and duties performed by these crews, it is believed that the outcome would have been drastically different," said Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones.

From getting people out of burning buildings to rescuing a man who fell 50 feet while working in a manwhole, the brave men and women will tell you it's just another day on the job.

"If I'm ever trapped or I think anybody in this room could say that, I would love to have the Detroit Fire Department there," Jones said.

And on this day, the honors came full circle.

"My father is a paramedic who's been with the Detroit Fire Department for about 25 years now. So to see him get awards, and now it's me, another generation to get awards, it feels great," Morgan said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.