Updated: Oct. 7, 2021

ASHLAND, Maine (WAGM) -

A rookie police officer in the town of Ashland is being praised for springing into action and saving a man’s life. NewsSource8′s Brian Bouchard has the story.

In the early morning hours of September 24th Officer Daniel Rodgers responded to a call of a potential overdose.

“I walked in, I saw the guy laying on the ground…I got down, I figured I’d see if I could get a pulse off on him…I didn’t really feel anything on him at first…so I then started hearing something coming from his mouth, so I’m like well it seems like he still might have a little life left in him.” - Officer Daniel Rodgers – Patrol Officer, Ashland PD

Officer Rodgers then started administering CPR, a skill and certification he obtained prior to joining the Ashland PD in June of this year, and says that he was able to get the man, who has not been identified, breathing again. EMS was then able to administer Narcan to the man.

Chief Cyr Martin of Ashland PD says that the man has made a full recovery, and the chief is overjoyed by the performance of his newest officer.

“I’m very proud of Officer Rodgers for doing what he did…We don’t often get positive output as being police officers, but that is a good thing, when we save a life.” - Chief Cyr Martin – Chief of Police, Ashland PD

Penny Kern, of the American Red Cross was happy to hear about Officer Rodgers’ successful CPR attempt and had this to say.

“It has to almost be a learned behavior. If this person collapses, this is what I do…The chances, just using CPR, of actually restarting somebody’s heart is pretty slim but it’s better than nothing.” - Penny Kern – Licensed Training Provider, American Red Cross

With calls to emergency services concerning overdoses becoming more and more commonplace, Officer Rodgers says that it is important that the general public know how to administer CPR. He says that while first responders are trained to save a life, they can’t always be everywhere, and those first precious few moments of someone experiencing cardiac arrest may mean the difference between life, and death.

Original Article Link:

Ashland PD Rookie Saves Life with CPR (wagmtv.com)