Petoskey Public Safety recognizes 2022 Honors Board Award winners
PETOSKEY — The City of Petoskey recognized the 2022 recipients of the Honors Board Awards during the city council meeting on March 6.
The Petoskey Department of Public Safety Honors Board of Review consists of the department's director, senior lieutenant and union steward. The board meets once a year to review requests for recognition of meritorious service or actions.
These requests for awards are submitted by department members who wish to have fellow department members, public safety personnel from other departments, or citizens recognized for outstanding service to the community or to the department.
“We do a yearly awards for officers in several different categories,” said Public Safety Director Adrian Karr during the meeting. “They deserve recognition.”
Lt. Michael Parker, Public Safety Officer Hunter Arnold, Public Safety Officer Connor Kish, Emmet County EMT Chris Krupa and Emmet County paramedic Chelsea Wregglesworth were recognized with the Lifesaving Award for actions they took over the course of Dec. 16-17, 2022. The Lifesaving Award is given to individuals directly responsible for saving a human life.
According to a department press release, the first incident began at approximately 9:22 p.m. on Dec. 16 when officers overheard EMS being dispatched to a hotel just outside the city limits. Dispatch advised of an 18-year-old man who appeared unconscious, was purple in color and breathing “every once in a while.” Due to the severity of the circumstances, officers responded to the location to assist.
Upon arrival, officers found the subject was unconscious, laying facedown, was purple in color, had pinpoint pupils and snoring respirations. Parker administered three doses of Nasal Naloxone (Narcan), while officers Arnold and Kish began rescue breathing efforts. After approximately three minutes, the patient regained consciousness and was able to walk out of his room on his own power.
The next day, at approximately 8:23 p.m., officers were again dispatched to the same location for the same 18-year-old man. The patient was reportedly unconscious and foaming from his nose and mouth.
Officers were assisted at the scene by Emmet County EMS members Krupa and Wregglesworth. Officers Arnold and Kish were the first to arrive and found the patient exhibiting similar symptoms as the day prior. They administered two doses of Naloxone, however the subject was not quick to respond.
After discussing whether the patient was suffering from a possible seizure or other causes, officers said they were confident the incident was related to a narcotics episode.
Parker placed an oral airway as instructed by EMS to assist with rescue breathing efforts. Once EMS started an IV, the subject was administered one more dose of Narcan and regained consciousness.
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A Lifesaving Award was also presented to Lt. David Schultz, Public Safety Officer John Duch, Public Safety Officer Erik Hoig and Emmet County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Cole Brady for an incident on Oct. 28, 2022.
On that day, CCE Central Dispatch received a call from a woman who was transporting her husband to McLaren Northern Michigan hospital. She believed he was possibly deceased.
Officers had recently been dispatched to the hospital for an unrelated incident, and Sgt. Brady with the Emmet County Sheriff’s Office was already on scene. Brady observed the vehicle pull into the Emergency Department ramp and requested additional assistance. Brady indicated the man was not breathing and CPR was initiated. Lt. Schultz and officers Duch and Hoig then arrived on scene to assist.
Officers began CPR in the parking lot while hospital staff responded with lifesaving equipment. The man was then loaded onto a cot and brought into the Emergency Department, where officers and hospital staff continued lifesaving efforts for approximately 20 minutes. By that time, the patient had regained his pulse and he was sent on for advanced care.
The patient’s family later reported that he was released and has made a full recovery.
Public Safety Officer Hunter Arnold was presented with another Lifesaving Award for an incident on Jan. 16, 2022.
On that day, at approximately 1 p.m., Arnold overheard emergency units dispatched to a business located just outside the city limits. Dispatch information indicated a 36- year-old man may have overdosed.
Recognizing he might be the closest unit, Arnold requested permission to assist from the Emmet County Sheriff’s Office and responded to the scene. Upon arrival, Arnold observed staff performing CPR on the patient. Arnold asked bystanders if Narcan had been administered and they said it had not.
Arnold performed a rapid assessment and observed the patient was unconscious and had a hypodermic needle laying on the ground next to him. Arnold administered one dose of Narcan to the patient’s right nostril. He then checked the patient’s right radial pulse and noted there was a pulse present. The patient then began breathing more on his own. Arnold provided rescue breathing efforts as EMS arrived.
The patient slowly regained consciousness and was able to talk to EMS staff prior to transport.
Lt. Todd Troxel was given a Public Safety Citation, which is an award for service in the line of duty that required unusual thoroughness, conscientiousness, determination and initiative in the performance of a difficult assignment.
The incident occurred around noon on Feb. 2, 2022 when Public Safety officers were dispatched to multiple reports of two overturned kayakers approximately 150 yards off shore on Little Traverse Bay near Belle Avenue. Witnesses reported the kayakers were yelling for help and at least one of the people in the water did not have a lifejacket on.
Lt. Troxel arrived on scene and confirmed there were two male teenagers in the water attempting to swim to shore. Troxel noted one teenager appeared to be a stronger swimmer and was going to be able to self-rescue. The other was struggling to swim any further and was clinging to a floating life jacket.
Troxel stowed his police gear, donned a life jacket and entered the water. Once Troxel reached the subject, the teenager let go of his life jacket and grabbed on to him. Knowing one life jacket would not be able to hold the weight of two, Troxel was able to calm the teenager down and instructed him to hold on the floating vest with two hands. Troxel then assisted the young man to shore.
Public Safety Officer Lawrence Donovan was recognized with a Public Safety Commendation, which recognizes exceptionally effective work and above average alertness or initiative in a difficult or unusual situation. In the same incident, Hannah Budnik and Susannah Pfeifer were recognized with the Citizens Award, which recognizes meritorious service to the department by a citizen.
The incident occurred at approximately 2:19 p.m. on May 12, 2022 when Budnik and Pfeifer observed a dog that had been left alone in a parked vehicle. The temperature on this day was in the low 80s. They continued to keep an eye on the truck, and when the owner did not return for at least a half hour, Pfeifer contacted 911.
Officer Donovan responded, and both witnesses provided him with detailed information before pointing out the vehicle. Donovan could hear the dog inside of the vehicle panting loudly and gasping for air. He used an unlock tool to open the vehicle to remove the dog. Donovan then attempted to provide the dog water and began cooling him with ice packs.
He noted the dog was not recovering and was still in distress. At this point, the dog was not able to stand on his own and his condition appeared to be deteriorating. Realizing time was of the essence, Donovan called Jensen’s Animal Hospital and transported the dog for emergency veterinary care.
Upon arrival at Jensen’s, the dog was treated for heat exposure. The owner was located about an hour after the initial call to 911.
Max Ann Caldwell also received a Citizens Award for an incident that occurred on Feb. 15, 2022 at Petoskey High School.
On that day, at approximately 9:15 a.m., a fight took place between two students in the girls restroom. After the incident, School Resource Officer Ben Carlson became aware of a video of the fight. Several students had recorded the fight on their phones, except Caldwell, who chose to step in and physically defuse the situation by pulling the two girls apart. Caldwell was hit in the face during this effort.
Following the official awards presentations, Karr noted that he had received a text at the last minute from someone wanting to recognize Lt. Michael Parker for saving a child’s life at a youth basketball tournament in Lansing over the weekend. The child began choking on food, and Parker performed the Heimlich maneuver and was able to help the child.
“It just goes to show that wherever we travel, our training travels with us,” Karr said.
Mayor John Murphy said the annual awards presentation is always one of the most exciting times of the year “because it means life saving.”
“Thank you Public Safety,” he said. “Thank you for what you do out on the road. You put your life on the line every day. You never know who you’re going to deal with, but you do it with honor and with respect for those individuals. And what’s beautiful about it is you do this with compassion … and because you care about people.”
— Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey Public Safety recognizes 2022 Honors Board Award winners
