A newly-married police officer and paramedic find themselves working together to save a man overdosing from heroin.
“I was at the Cutlerville Fire Department; I was halfway through my shift. [It was] about 12:30 in the morning.”
That’s Kent County Sheriff Department Deputy Patrick Stewart.
“And as soon as I got there I hear a loud pounding on the door of the fire station, which is unusual for that time of night.
"When I answered the door there was a gentleman standing there extremely frantic, very excited. [He said] that his friend that’s in the backseat of his car had overdosed from heroin and was no longer breathing.”
Stewart says he began chest compressions on the man, and was able to regain a faint pulse by the time the paramedics showed up.
That paramedic team included his wife, Amanda.
The couple married four months ago.
“I didn’t know who was going to come. But when the ambulance got there, and I looked out of the corner of my eye, and I saw my wife Amanda," Stewart says. "I saw that look in her face (of) determination, and I knew that this man was in good hands.”
Narcan was used to successfully reverse the effects of the overdose.
The Sheriff’s department says six individuals reportedly overdosed from heroin in a 24-hour period last weekend.
A news statement released by the department highlights the couple’s dedication while sharing concern over a “growing epidemic” in the community.
