Two Marble Falls police officers credited with saving a life — for second time this year
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — The training and response of two Marble Falls police officers are credited for saving a man’s life after he fell unconscious while driving June 19 and crashed his vehicle.
And it’s the second time this year, these two particular officers have helped save a person’s life.
“It feels really good when you have something like this happen,” said Marble Falls Police Capt. Glenn Hanson. “I’m just so proud of these two officers.”
About 8 p.m. June 19, Sgt. Barry Greer and Officer Dorian Turner responded to a report of a one-car accident in the Marble Falls High School parking lot. When the arrived, they found a vehicle in the brush north of the entrance to Mustang Drive.
“Apparently, a man and his teenage son along with two other boys were up at the high school shooting baskets,” Hanson said. “When they were leaving in the car and were near the south end of the parking lot, (the father) falls unconscious. He hits the gas, jumps the curb, goes through a fence and into the brush.”
Fortunately, Greer and Turner were in the area and arrived on the scene within moments. Hanson said one of the high school coaches told the officers the man didn’t have a pulse.
“The officers helped pull him out, and they began CPR,” Hanson said.
A Marble Falls Fire Rescue team arrived soon after the officers began CPR. The Marble Falls Fire Rescue team consisting of Capt. Chris Harrison, driver Randy Rankin, firefighter/paramedic Michael Strobo and firefighter John Morrison assessed the man using a cardiac monitor defibrillator, according to Fire Chief Johnny Caraway.
The firefighters discovered the man was in ventricular fibrillation, a severely abnormal heart rhythm that can be life threatening.
“For all intents and purposes, the man was dead when we arrived,” Capt. Harrison said. “He was unconscious with no pulse, and he was not breathing.”
The CPR the two officers were administrating was what was pumping blood through the man’s body and getting oxygen into his lungs.
Firefighters shocked the man’s heart back into a normal cardiac rhythm using an automated external defibrillator (AED).
After the shock, the man’s pulse returned, fire officials said.
Marble Falls Area EMS soon arrived and provided additional medial attention before transporting the man to Seton Highland Lakes in Burnet. Hanson said the man was eventually transported to Seton Medical Center Williamson in Round Rock.
As of June 20, Hanson said the man was doing better but still hospitalized.
This is the second time the two officers have helped save a life this year. In the early morning hours of March 19, the officers responded to a motorcycle accident on Mustang Drive. They found a 25-year-old man suffering from a serious leg injury and in danger of bleeding to death. Hanson said the two officers applied a tourniquet, which saved the motorcycle driver’s life.
“They saved this (father’s) life thanks to their training and their desire to help others,” Hanson said. “Every one of our officers is trained in CPR. Every one of them carries first-aid equipment including tourniquets. It’s all part of what our officers are trained to do.”
daniel@thepicayune.com