CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Officers with the Summersville Police Department were honored Monday for their life-saving efforts in the line of duty last month.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, Will Thompson, spoke at Monday’s event in Charleston during which the Summersville Officers were recognized for their life saving efforts on the night of Saturday, January 28th.
“We’re here today to recognize some officers who did an amazing thing a few weeks ago,” Thompson began. “I’m going to recognize here in just a moment, some officers who were able to administer Narcan to a person in their custody, thus saving his life.”
Thompson spoke of advantages of policy pertaining to the carrying of Narcan in case of emergency situations, and commended Summersville’s department for implementing such a policy themselves.
These measures would be crucial in the averting of disaster when a suspect who had been taken into custody began suffering the effects of an overdose of the substances he had had on his person. Thompson painted a picture of the events.
“Corporal Steve Mullins was on patrol. He noticed an individual who was not complying with the traffic laws of the state and tried to initiate a traffic stop. The person initially ran from him – their vehicle then broke down, he ran, and was able to be apprehended a short time later.”
He continued, “Corporal Mullens noticed there were some plastic bags laying around the person and asked him if he had ingested anything he shouldn’t have. Initially, the person said no, but then he said he had ingested some drugs – those drugs turned out to be fentanyl.
“Corporal Mullens then contacted for backup, Patrolman Cruthers and Patrolman Woods, who initially were going to transport [the suspect] to EMS. .As they began to transport him, they noticed that the person was suffering some distress: His lips were getting blue, things of that nature. Patrolman Carruthers then administered Narcan to him, and Patrolman Woods then supported him, keeping him awake, essentially keeping him alive until they were able to get him to EMS and ultimately the hospital.”
Thompson commended the actions and quick-thinking of the officers as indispensable in the saving of the suspect’s life in the situation, and was inspired to put together Monday’s ceremony after having been made aware of the officers’ heroic acts.
“I think the actions of both the Summersville Police Department as a whole and Corporal Steve Mullins, patrolman Tyler Cruthers, and Patrolman Ryan Woods is something that deserves recognition by this community,” Thompson declared.
“When I heard of this, I thought, ‘let’s do a ceremony,’ and that’s why we’re here today. So I have something to present to each of the officers who were involved,” Thompson stated as each of the officers onstage were presented with commemorative challenge coins in recognition of their service.
“I wanted to thank you all for your service. Thank you for coming here today. And I think it should be a message to not only all police departments but to all of West Virginia: Narcan is literally something that can save someone’s life, and the fact that these officers were able to do that, I think, deserves some recognition.”
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage for the Nicholas County area can be found here.
Summersville officers honored for lifesaving Narcan administration
