Ambulance Driver Honored For Saving Boy Along Freeway

Tacoma emergency medical technician Jeff Blank had his ambulance run off Interstate 5 in February by a distraught mother whose 2-year-old son had stopped breathing.

Blank screeched to a halt, kept his cool and got the boy breathing again.

Blank was recognized for his quick response last week when he was presented with the Stars of Life award in Washington, D.C. He was the only ambulance driver from Washington to receive the honor from the American Ambulance Association.

Blank, a six-year veteran driver, recalled Friday that his own heart was pounding when a woman deliberately veered her Geo Tracker in front of his ambulance Feb. 27, forcing him to screech to a halt up against a concrete barrier on the left shoulder of I-5 near Boeing Field.

The woman, Trina Gonzales of Kent, ran toward him, screaming that her baby wasn’t breathing. She thrust her limp, bluish child into his arms.

Blank tilted the 2-year-old boy’s head back, and the child started breathing again on his own. He passed the boy back to Karen Alderman, a pediatric critical care nurse who was riding with him, then began attending to the mother, who had passed out in the car-pool lane.

Blank scooped Gonzalez up and brought her to the back of the ambulance, where she regained consciousness.

The boy, who had a history of seizures, spent 2-1/2 weeks at the hospital. He now takes drugs, which seem to have solved the problem.

Gonzales was pleased to hear that Blank’s valor was recognized.

“He saved my son,” she said Friday. “If he hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Blank, 30, who is a father of three young boys, said he’s uncomfortable being called a hero. He prefers to describe himself as a person who cherishes children. “I want the best for my kids,” he said, “and I want to provide the best care for other kids in the country, too.”