By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Brandon Twp. — Two area officers, Deputy Trisha Fox of the Brandon Township substation and Trevor Sanford received a Lifesaving Citation at the Peace Officers Awards in the Board of Commissioners Auditorium on the county campus in Pontiac.
The May 14 honors included lifesaving and valor citations, citizen and community service awards, and the announcement of nine Sheriff’s Office Of the Year” recognition.
“We thank you for stepping forward when it is much easier to stand still,” Oakland County Undersheriff Timothy Willis said. “The exemplary works of Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputies, staff and local citizens were celebrated, recognized and in one somber instance – memorialized – during the National Peace Officers Day annual awards ceremony.
The honorees were acknowledged before a standing-room only ceremony held in the Board of Commissioners Auditorium on the county campus in Pontiac.
In 2024, Deputy Fox was dispatched to Sashabaw Meadows in southern Brandon Township.
“The call was that a woman had passed out and was unresponsive at the residence,” said Fox. “I was in the area and close to that address. Once I was inside the home the woman was on the floor and lifeless, so I started doing CPR.”
Dep. Sanford arrived along with the automated external defibrillator (AED). Brandon Fire arrived just a few minutes later and continued treatment.
“Even with the chest compression she was lifeless,” she said. “Once you keep stimulation to the heart it really helps. That saved her life.”
Administering CPR was not the first for Fox over her career.
“CPR is not the same today as it was when I started,” said Fox, a 13-year OCSO veteran deputy, including two years at Brandon Township. “We don’t do the breaths anymore, a lot of people did not want to make physical contact.”
“I’m glad to help anytime,” she said. “You do this job to help people.”