Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Southlake Fire’s CPR Training is Put Into Action by Police Officer Jenkins

Police officers and firefighters never know what sort of call they will receive from shift to shift.  Southlake has made it their ultimate priority to focus on training from all aspects of the job.

In early March, Southlake Fire Prevention Officer Renni Burt put on the bi-yearly CPR recertification and AED training.  All police officers attended and were re-educated in CPR and conducted hands on practice with both adult and child mannequins.  Officer Myles Jenkins was one of the practitioners.

Less than one week later, Officer Jenkins was less than five blocks away when Dispatch announced over the radio they had a 911 call involving an unresponsive man, and that someone was attempting CPR on him.  He arrived at the house in less than two minutes, where the main gate to the house was shut.  He quickly got on the radio with Dispatch who provided the access code and the gate opened.

He drove up to the front of the house and ran to the front door, simultaneously knocking, ringing the doorbell and announcing the police were there to help.  There was no answer.  He took a step back and a sobbing woman emerged from a side door.  She couldn’t speak.  “Where is he at?!” Officer Jenkins asked and the woman led him to the kitchen.

The man was on the floor and Officer Jenkins checked for a pulse.  He did not find one and there was no breathing—however, the man still felt warm to the touch.  Officer Jenkins announced on the radio he was starting CPR, and he began chest compressions.  In the still room, with the woman standing silently over him, Officer Jenkins recalled his training and worked on the man for minutes that seemed like hours.  He heard sirens in the distance, so he knew that the paramedics were nearby.

Sweating in his gear, and beginning to tire, he looked up and saw Corporal Blas Hernandez running in the side door.  Together the two switched off giving chest compressions until Southlake Fire arrived and loaded the man up in the ambulance…now with a pulse.  The officers on scene gathered up all the medical information and documents at the house and gave them to Southlake Fire.  The paramedics continued to work on the man with their chest compression machine until he reached the emergency room.

“I’m so thankful CPR was so fresh on my mind from the course that Southlake Fire taught,” Officer Jenkins said.  “I’m also lucky our Dispatch had told the woman to get the man on the ground and on his back for when I arrived.”

Officer Jenkins then contacted the School Resource Officers to make sure the children in the household had a way to get home or to the hospital after school ended.  After that, he cooled down and went back to answering calls for service for the citizens of Southlake.

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