Documentary to Showcase West Bloomfield Lifesavers

If all goes according to plan, voters in the Nov. 8 election will be well-informed of the value of services received, thanks to a documentary being filmed by the and

The yet-untitled film is a re-enactment of the events that saved Bloomfield Hills resident Joshua Sherbin after he went into cardiac arrest Oct. 10, 2010, at . WBFD Emergency Medical Services Capt. Greg Flynn said he hopes the film will be completed and broadcast by Oct. 10 this year to mark the anniversary.

The project is unique for both men, neither of whom has worked on a similar project until the WBFD approached CVTV with the idea some months ago. Flynn said Sherbin’s cooperation was essential for the documentary to move forward, as health information privacy laws would have kept the WBFD from publicizing the events otherwise.

Not only has Sherbin allowed the documentary to be filmed, Flynn added, but camera crews from CVTV have visited Sherbin’s home to explain his full recovery.

“We’ve gone to his home and filmed him speaking about the incident with his wife and family and the dog,” Flynn said. “(Sherbin) is fully functioning, and that’s not something that you can say about a lot of people who go in to sudden cardiac arrest in public, because it’s so difficult to make sure that all of the resources necessary to survive will be right there. But, they were.”

Flynn said that after the WBFD’s concept was approved by CVTV management, that CVTV staff helped him “storyboard” the events in order to get the re-enactment filmed. The documentary include actual audio from the 911 call but will feature actors in the role of Sherbin and those who helped save him, including the Plum Market staff who called 911 and the WBFD dispatchers who worked with them.

“It’ll help to show our communication center and how they start rendering care over the phone before the trucks arrive,” Flynn said. “We’ll also be able to show how fast the response time of the Fire Department was, the effort of the Plum Market staff and those at who received (Sherbin).”

The documentary is near to the heart of Pauline Navoy, a former registered nurse who is the producer of the project. As Navoy barked orders Thursday, camera operator Ryan Sabo, 25, of Livonia climbed in the back seat of a WBFD truck to film EMS workers driving to Plum Market.

“This is pretty cool — my first time filming in a fire truck,” Sabo said. “Also the first re-enactment of an event like this I’ve done.”

What will viewers see? On Oct. 10, Sherbin was spending a Sunday morning at the Plum Market café, catching up on email while his children were in school. Suddenly, he went into cardiac arrest and collapsed on the floor.

Jacob Lewkow, a Plum Market employee, saw Sherbin fall and immediately began administering CPR. The rescue team from arrived quicker than normal due to already being on the road after an unrelated emergency.

The rescue team treated Sherbin with an automated external defibrillator that restored his breathing and circulation. He was then taken to .

Sherbin, who had no prior symptoms or family history of heart disease, has since made a full recovery.

Lewkow and several members of the Fire Department at a meeting April 26. “This is a great example of how knowing CPR can save someone’s life,” Sherbin said at the meeting.

The documentary will feature interviews not only with Sherbin and Flynn, but also with Lewkow and Mike Wood, a WBFD paramedic who was one of the first responders on the scene.

“There’s a chain of events which need to happen in order for someone’s life to be saved, and everyone did what they needed to do,” Flynn said.