Even if Sandy Cooper never needs to utilize her emergency medical technician training again, the time it took for her to earn her certification was time well spent.

Cooper, a 27-year Air Force veteran who's now a battalion chief with Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fire and Emergency Services, was recently recognized by the Board of Directors of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians for achieving 20 consecutive years as a nationally registered EMT. The distinction is an honor held by very few EMTs, according to the NREMT.

To maintain her status as a nationally registered EMT, Cooper completed on a biennial basis courses to refresh her fundamental knowledge and skills, and attended a minimum of two hours per month of additional continuing education courses.

"By maintaining her status and completing regular continuing education courses, Cooper is among the few elite EMTs with the most training in pre-hospital emergency care in the nation," Cooper's award states.

Cooper's training came in handy three years ago when her 16-year-old son Christopher was injured in a household accident.

While standing on a shelf trying to reach something in the pantry before leaving for an early snowboarding trip, the shelf broke and Christopher got stuck hanging by the neck on a higher shelf. Cooper heard the crash and rushed downstairs. After lifting her son off the shelf and positioning him on the kitchen floor, reality set in.

"He was completely blue," Cooper said. "I thought in my head I was watching the death of my son."

With the paramedics on their way, Cooper's training kicked in.

"I immediately reacted," she said. "It was a 100 percent training reaction - I'm not thinking, just reacting."

Cooper and her husband - a retired firefighter - opened Christopher's airway and started giving him mouth-to-mouth. The two got restored a partial airway, allowing the return of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart, enough to bring color back to Christopher's face and neck. The paramedics arrived and took over from there.

Despite suffering from a partially crushed trachea, Christopher made a full recovery.

"I can't tell you how many times I've thanked God for the training," said Cooper, who retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2007 as a chief master sergeant and now lives in Graham. Before moving to JBLM, Cooper previously served as an assistant fire chief at McChord Field.

The 50-year-old Air Force veteran earned her certification in 1990 while working as a captain with the Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Fire Department, where she eventually became the first female fire chief in the Air Force.

"(The certification) wasn't a requirement back then, but we were going on more and more medical calls so it was super helpful to have it," she said.

While there have been many changes in portable lifesaving technology and the requirements surrounding certification for most jobs in the firefighting career field since 1990, none of it takes away from what Cooper's certification milestone.

She cherishes the fact she touched other's lives, whether it meant reviving a heart attack victim or attending to injured victims of a two-car accident in rural Utah.

"As long as I keep working, I'm going to keep my certification going," Cooper said.

The NREMT just celebrated its 40th anniversary, and it has been issuing 20-year certificates for 20 years, according to Heidi Erb, the organization's community relations coordinator.