Bartlesville Officers Receive Award For Saving Woman After Overdose

Two Bartlesville Police Officers have received a special award for saving a woman who had overdosed.

Both officers, Sergeant Daniel Mains and Officer Gary Sutton say even though it is a very stressful situation trying to save someone's life, they were surprisingly calm, went into autopilot and their training took over.

Body camera video of Sergeant Mains and Officers Sutton walking into a shed behind a Bartlesville home on January 19th and finding a woman lying lifeless on a bed. They were answering an overdose call, so Officer Sutton immediately administered Narcan, but the woman still wasn't breathing. 

"We had to reposition her and try different options like a sternum rub to get her to try to breathe,” said Sgt. Mains. "Once the person was breathing again, or shallow breathing, we administered a second dose, that way the medicine could get into their system, and take effect."

Officers say the sternum rub can be very painful, but the hope is the victim reacts to the pain and wakes up. In this case, thankfully she did.

“It was an amazing feeling. Me and my sergeant looked at each other and we smiled and gave each other a fist bump because we were happy that we saved her life,” said Officer Sutton

Sergeant Mains says if Officer Sutton didn't arrive when he did and didn't have any Narcan with him, the woman may have died.

"When we have the option to save a person's life or have the ability to, I mean that trumps any arrest that could be made or charges to be filed. I've seen people be brought back from the dead by using that. One moment they look dead, but the next moment they are up and talking and walking out under their own power."

Officers say because of the fentanyl epidemic going on right now, they are unfortunately seeing a lot more overdoses.