Oskaloosa Officers Save Lives In Two Separate Calls

Shawn, shown here, had a cardiac event while out on the sidewalk. Some Oskaloosa police officers responded, “and although it looked extremely dire, they began CPR and grabbed an AED. Shawn is alive and well today and he is being awarded a challenge coin from Officer Johnson, who was one of the officers on-scene that day.  (An Oskaloosa Police Department Photo)

Oskaloosa, Iowa – When the call for medical help comes in, oftentimes, police officers are the first individuals on the scene.

A photo posted on the Oskaloosa Police Department Facebook page gave a face to one of those lifesaving efforts.

A couple of years ago, we shared the lifesaving efforts of first responders to save the life of an Oskaloosa man, Jamie Brockman. [link to video]

On January 24th, 2020, at approximately 11 a.m., a report came in of a man face down in the 300 block of A Avenue East.

Oskaloosa Police Chief Benjamin Boeke is from Illinois, and there, officers don’t do a lot of medical. Here in Oskaloosa, and many departments in Iowa, officers are trained in first aid, CPR, and other basic lifesaving skills.

“It’s pretty impressive to see the capabilities of some of these guys,” said Boeke of the first aid skills officers have.

Oskaloosa Police officers arrived on the scene, and they started doing CPR. In their patrol car is an AED or an automated external defibrillator.

“They worked pretty feverishly to save his life,” says Boeke of the effort his officers gave at the scene.

Paramedics arrived on the scene and helped to stabilize the heart attack victim, Shawn.

A couple of days after the lifesaving effort, word came that Shawn was doing great.

Shawn remains in a Des Moines area hospital and will continue his recovery there.

While in the Des Moines area performing another task, Oskaloosa officers stopped by to visit with Shawn and presented him with a challenge coin. “It’s pretty cool to see that he’s grinning and happy,” said Boeke. “He’s doing great.

On a more recent call, Oskaloosa Police officers responded to the 800 block of 9th Avenue West to a woman who had collapsed.

Being a younger patient, officers utilized Narcan issued to them and on their person, using it on the victim, as they suspected potential opioid use.

“It is absolutely breathtaking to see how terrible this looked, and she revived,” says Boeke of the scene. “It was almost miraculous to watch because her color was way off. I mean, she looked dead in the video.”

“I think it was two or three doses of Narcan, and she popped back up, and they continued CPR until her heart [started] moving, and she was breathing again, and she was walking and talking before they took her to the hospital, which is just amazing to see. Unbelievable to watch that,” added Boeke.

“So two good lives saved here within a couple of weeks of each other,” Boeke said.

For Oskaloosa police officers, they have to be extra careful in situations where opioids may be.

Recently, fentanyl was discovered in an Oskaloosa case, something that can quickly kill an officer, since their bodies have no tolerance to opioid medications. “We are very susceptible to fentanyl poisoning,” explained Boeke.

Boeke also praised Jane Nicholson of Mahaska Drug for providing the Narcan to the department free of charge.

Boeke is working on some lifesaving awards for officers and will need city council approval, and he hopes to present them in March.