May 01--Two Toledo firefighters killed battling a North Toledo apartment-building fire in January were honored Wednesday with plaques bearing their names added to a memorial at the University of Toledo Health Science Campus.
During a private ceremony, school officials unveiled the plaques honoring fire Pvts. Stephen Machcinski, 42, and James 'Jamie' Dickman, 31. The plaques will be added to the school's Emergency Medicine Wall of Honor. The memorial is in the emergency department of the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio, near the ambulance entrance.
"In addition to the plaques on the wall of honor, there will also be plaques displayed where our paramedic students are taught," said Paul Rega, an assistant professor in the department of public health and preventative medicine and the department of emergency medicine. "It's a reminder of why they need to learn what they need to learn, who was there before them and whose shoulders they are standing on."
Copies of the plaques were also presented to the families of both firefighters during the ceremony.
The campus facility is where many Toledo-area emergency professionals receive their education and training, Toledo Fire Chief Luis Santiago said.
The event, sponsored by The Blade, was attended by students pursuing emergency-medical careers.
Mike Abrahams, 29, of Toledo, a first-year resident training for emergency-room medicine, said he attended Wednesday's ceremony because everyone in their field works together to save lives. The plaques honoring Mr. Machcinski and Mr. Dickman will serve as a reminder to students that people's lives, including their own, depend on what they know and do, he said.
"I think it was good to do something like this," Mr. Abrahams said. "We all feel this; we work as a team."
Contact Federico Martinez at: [email protected] or 419-724-6154.
Copyright 2014 - The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
