First Responders Honored At Ceremony In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City's local heroes were honored at a recent ceremony for their lifesaving work over the past year.

"There has never been anything more important in Ocean City than public safety," Mayor Jay Gillian said in opening remarks at the second annual Public Safety Recognition Ceremony on Feb. 26. The ceremony, held at Ocean City Tabernacle, celebrated the work of Ocean City's firefighters, police and beach patrol over the past year.

Over the course of the hour-and-a-half long ceremony, individual first responders were called up to the stage as authorities extolled their virtues.

"We've adopted a slogan in the police department. We proudly say that we're the gold standard," said Police Chief Bill Campbell. "And I think everybody up here that's going to be recognized, for family and the public that's here, you're going to see the gold standard fully on display."

Among those honored at the ceremony were Officer Ryan Lutz, who helped a 13-year-old girl whose head was bleeding after a car accident, 911 operator Mark Newman, who gave a citizen CPR instructions when she found someone unconscious and called authorities, and firefighter Matthew Long, who deployed to North Carolina for search and rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Those recognized rescued people from drowning, crashes, cardiac arrests and more, and were off-duty in some cases.

"I'm proud to be standing here tonight to celebrate these brave men and women," Gillian said. "Without them, we would never be America's greatest family resort."

Watch video of the ceremony below.