March 21, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (SH2008-21)
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
R. Steve Huffman
Public Information Officer
(251) 208-2857/Fax: (251) 208-2861
E-Mail: huffman@cityofmobile.org
2007 FIREFIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Mobile Firefighter Michael W. Tipp, 44, a veteran with over 17 years on the department was selected to be the 2007 Firefighter of the Year by the Pleasant Valley Opportunity Club on Wednesday, March 19.
While on a recent fishing trip in the summer of 2007 Tipp and his father were making their way up the mountain to Lake Guntersville when they happened upon the scene of a wreck involving a single vehicle. The vehicle had gone off the road and into the woods on the side of the hill. The vehicle rolled over with the roof of the vehicle resting against a pine tree of the down-slope side, with no other medical resources yet on the scene, Tipp sprang into action.
According to witnesses and statements taken from the Guntersville Fire Department, that without the quick thinking and fast action of Tipp, the female occupant may have well succumbed to her injuries.
Tipp, without the aide of any medical equipment and at great risk to his own personal safety because he could not stabilized the vehicle first, entered the vehicle to begin patient assessment, ensuring patient breathing, control bleeding and establish C-Spine stabilization. According to the Guntersville Fire Department the information Tipp was able to provide to them was without a doubt critical to patient survival. They feel without a doubt the outcome would have been much different had Tipp not stopped and rendered aide.
Because of his selfless actions Firefighter Mike Tipp is being awarded the 2007 Firefighter of the Year. The Firefighter of the Month program is sponsored by the Pleasant Valley Opportunity Club.
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