Two Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers received the DNR Law Enforcement Division’s Lifesaving Award for their actions assisting people during emergency situations last year. Presentations to both officers took place during events at Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire.
Sgt. Bill Webster received his second Lifesaving Award during the Michigan Natural Resources Commission’s March meeting.
Conservation Officer Jeff Ginn received awards (from two separate events) during a DNR staff meeting. These two awards bring Ginn’s total to six Lifesaving Awards since 2012.
Sgt. Bill Webster was patrolling downtown Charlevoix Nov. 11 when he saw a white pickup truck partially submerged in Round Lake, where Antrim Street dead ends, east of Bridge Street.
Earlier in the day, a 34-year-old Traverse City man had asked officers from the Charlevoix City Police Department to escort him to Charlevoix Hospital, located on Lakeshore Drive. The man stopped following police and drove off route, creating several disturbances along Northbound Bridge Street before driving east on Antrim Street and into Round Lake.
Webster, the first emergency responder on scene, could see air bubbles coming out of the truck, which was on its side in about 9 feet of water. Before bystanders could confirm whether anyone was in the vehicle, Webster began preparing to enter the water.
With a personal floatation device, Webster walked along the vehicle and opened the driver’s side door. The discolored, unconscious man and his personal belongings immediately floated out of the vehicle.
Two witnesses helped Webster pull the man onto a dock. Webster performed several rounds of abdominal compressions, pushing water out of the man’s lungs until he started breathing on his own.
Charlevoix EMS transported the man to Charlevoix Hospital for further examination; EMS later reported that he was stable and speaking.
Webster has been a conservation officer since 2006 and is a DNR law enforcement supervisor for Antrim, Charlevoix and Emmett counties.
On July 1, Newaygo County Central Dispatch reported that a 46-year-old Muskegon woman was found in a vehicle, not breathing due to a suspected drug overdose.
Conservation Officer Jeff Ginn arrived at the scene, located on 36th Street near Hardy Dam in White Cloud. Emergency responders from Big Prairie Township Fire Department and Chad Palmiter, undersheriff at Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office, had already given the woman one dose of NARCAN and were performing CPR.
Ginn administered a second dose of NARCAN, which helped to restart the woman’s heart. With the woman still unable to breathe, Ginn used a bag valve mask to deliver rescue breaths while emergency responders from Advanced EMS provided additional care and moved her into an ambulance. Ginn continued using the bag valve mask while transitioning into the ambulance, and saw the woman open her eyes and begin looking around.
She was transported to Gerber Memorial Hospital in Fremont for additional care.
Oct. 4, Ginn was returning to the Newaygo State Park boat launch after patrolling on Hardy Dam Pond. As Ginn neared the launch, a 56-year-old man, from Wayland, approached and said that his friend was not breathing and needed help.
Ginn contacted Newaygo Central Dispatch and requested an ambulance as he followed the man to a nearby boat.
On the boat, Ginn found an unconscious 55-year-old man, from Jenison, lying face down in a puddle of vomit, and a woman who was trying to help. The group told Ginn that their friend had consumed a lot of alcohol and they returned to shore when he became unconscious and ill.
Ginn noticed the man had an obstructed airway and his skin was changing color. Ginn turned the man to his side and cleared his airway by administering back blows, followed by chest compressions. With the man still struggling to breathe on his own, Ginn used a bag valve mask to help him breathe until EMS arrived.
The man was transported by EMS to a nearby hospital, where he later was treated and released for an aspirated airway.
Ginn has been a conservation officer since 2006 and patrols Newaygo County.
Categories: Michigan, Business