EMS salutes Toronto's 'heroes'

Toronto EMS says itresponds to an average of 800 calls perday. But it is the actions of regular people helping out that they chose to highlight at the EMS Awards this week.

In the map above, click on a superhero icon to read the story of Torontoniansresponding to life-threatening situations from the last year.

"It is the citizens out there who jump in and help out those patientsin life-threatening condition, who help with CPRand first aid and defibrillators that really save lives," said PaulRaftis, EMS Chief.

Some of the first responders were off-duty police officers, others were just people out for a walk. In one instance, an EMS award was given to afamous Hollywood actor.

Ben Quinn and Chris Mathias ran outside the King Edward Hotel to help a tourist who suffered a major cut to his throat. Alongside the two was actor John Malkovich.

"I knew that this man could bleed to death, and John Malkovich had applied pressure to his neck with a scarf.Ijust cradled his head because it was on the pavement, but when you see the blood seeping down, every second feels like a minute," said Quinn.

Mathias, a doorman at thehotel, said the tourist broke into tears thanking him. "It was my pleasure," said Mathias. "I'd do it again in a second."

Click here for a full version of the map.