'Tomorrow Wall' honors survivors of cardiac arrest and the first responders who saved them

'Tomorrow Wall' honors survivors of cardiac arrest and the first responders who saved them
As a way to honor their EMTs and paramedics, West Michigan ambulance service AMR Grand Rapids has put up a display to recognize their first responders and the people they've saved.

Called the "Tomorrow Wall," a hallway in their building is lined with wooden plaques with the names of people who survived cardiac arrest and the first responders who saved their lives. It was unveiled Thursday.

AMR Regional Director John Robben says the project was started to emphasize the important work first responders do.

"This is something we started in Grand Rapids about one year ago. And each plaque you see here represents someone that had a cardiac arrest, and left the hospital with zero neurological deficits and intact," Robben said. "So you know, the hard work of our EMTs and paramedics basically gave someone a tomorrow that they wouldn't have had otherwise."

Robben said the wall can remind first responders why they got started in the profession on difficult days.

"It really kind of reminds us of our purpose, why we do what we do. The job is not an easy job, as sometimes it's thankless job, it is hard work, you work holidays, you work your birthdays, you work nights and weekends sometimes," he said. "And so I think a kind of a constant reminder of, you know, why am I doing this this day?"

Two EMTs were specifically honored on Thursday after they performed CPR on a patient for over an hour, which led to saving the patient's life.