Four members of Elizabethton Police Department awarded Life Saving Award

Published 2:14 pm Monday, March 14, 2022

BY NIC MILLER

STAR STAFF

nic.miller@elizabethton.com

During Thursday’s Elizabethton City Council meeting, Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw had the opportunity to award four police officers with one of his department’s highest honors.

On Feb. 17, Sergeant Curtis Bullock, Officer Josh Riddle, Officer Jonah Roberts, and Officer Matthew Scott arrived to the scene of an unresponsive male, provided necessary care, and ended the call by saving a life.

“On February 17 at about 8:30 p.m., these four officers responded to a medical assist call regarding an unresponsive male patient. Upon arrival, the officers performed an assessment of the patient and determined the likely cause of the medical emergency was an overdose. They determined the patient was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Officers used their first aid training along with an AED to begin CPR on the patient,” Shaw said to the council and the many people in attendance, providing background on the nature of the incident that had occurred.

“Due to the indication of an overdose, officers also administered Narcan to the patient while relaying information to Emergency Medical Services. Officers were advised all EMS units were busy on other calls and they would have an extended response time,” Shaw said. “The officers continued to perform CPR on the patient for nearly 18 minutes until Emergency Medical Services arrived. As Emergency Medical Services was arriving, they noticed the patient trying to breathe and they detected a faint pulse.

“Officers continued their efforts until the patent was breathing, had a strong pulse, and began moving. Emergency Medical Services continued to care for the patient when they arrived and transported the patent to a hospital for further treatment,” Shaw said.

While it seemed like a simple exercise of the officers’ training, Shaw added that the officers exhausted every effort to resuscitate the patient, a task that was physically demanding on the officers.

“The officers on the scene rotated with their efforts and CPR, which is very physically demanding and exhausting, especially for an extended amount of time.

“Based on the nature of the call, the initial assessment of the patient’s medical emergency, the response and treatment provided by our officers, it is without a doubt that these officers saved the patient’s life that day,” Shaw said.

Shaw said that while the officers received this award, providing care for patients in the manner that they did in February is all a part of their commitment to the community to protect and serve.

The four officers were given a standing ovation by all 30 people attending the meeting at City Hall, with Elizabethton Mayor Pro-Tem William Carter saying, “We are so lucky to have people like these officers who care for and serve our community every day, expecting nothing in return.”