Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) employees Tony Carl Clark and Martine Smith are being lauded for saving a life while on the job performing their daily graffiti removal duties.

Clark and Smith were traveling along the 1300 block of Baylis Street when they were flagged down by a man.  They stopped, and the man asked the two City workers to help him render assistance to a woman who was unconscious in the driver’s seat of her vehicle. 

After opening the woman’s door, Clark and Smith noticed that her face was blue in color and that she was not responding.  Clark called 911, while Smith felt for a pulse and immediately began chest compressions.  The woman regained consciousness and she began to respond to Smith and Clark. 

Smith and Clark kept the woman awake until the paramedics arrived.  She was evaluated by the paramedics and released.  A family member safely drove her from the scene.  According to the Baltimore City paramedics who responded to the scene, the woman would not have survived if it were not for Smith’s efforts to revive her.

Director Rudy S. Chow, P.E., said “DPW is proud to have great, conscientious workers that go beyond the call of duty to save a life. Tony Carl Clark and Martine Smith now join the ranks of a few other recognized DPW heroes.” 

DPW workers who have saved lives while on the job over the last three years include DPW Employee of the Year Rollin Weeks, Jr., a recycling collector who with his colleagues rescued a woman from the edge of a bridge late last year.  Alfonso Jenkins and Greg Schmidt saved the life of a co-worker at the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant.  DPW Environmental Police Officer Silas Phillips rescued a suicidal subject at the Liberty Reservoir, in addition to other acts of heroism he has and may need to perform in his job as a police officer. 

They have all received accolades for their deeds, and are revered by co-workers and others who know of their heroism. Director Chow will present awards to Clark and Smith at DPW’s Employee of the Month ceremony on Thursday, October 4.