East Lansing Fire Department‘s Matthew Sterling was awarded Paramedic of the Year at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Sterling, a firefighter paramedic, has worked for the department for three years. The award is presented every year by the Sparrow Hospital Emergency Department as part of its Emergency Medical Services week.

Dr. John Dery, an emergency room doctor at Sparrow Hospital, and Anita Sukis, a safety training officer for the fire department, presented the award. Dery said each year the emergency department asks its employees to help find an individual who gives an exemplary level of care one would want for family and friends. Interestingly enough, this scenario came to life.

Dery’s wife found herself in the care of Sterling when she suffered from a bilateral pulmonary embolism, or blood clots in her lungs. She was transported to Sparrow by Sterling and successfully treated by her husband. Dery said this presentation gave him the opportunity to thank “one of the best” for saving his wife. Dery continued to praise Sterling for his service.

“He (Sterling) has consistently provided that level of care that when you hear his voice on the radio there is a sense of calm when I am the doctor knowing that he is bringing me a patient,” Dery said. “I know that he is giving me an accurate report when he tells me, ‘I’ve got this one, the patient is going to be okay, I am going to get them to you.”"

Sterling was joined by his wife, mother, father, brother, family friends and his two godchildren Tuesday night. He was also joined by a number of his colleagues who were, unfortunately, called to duty shortly before the award was presented.

“I am humbled and I would like to emphasize that none of this was done alone, and I have always had other teammates with me at all points in time. So the rest of the department is also very responsible for this and anything else,” Sterling said after receiving the award.