Morgan Hill Police Officer Todd Davis quickly applied his training and a donated portable resuscitation device to save an elderly resident’s life earlier this month, according to authorities.
Davis was on patrol Oct. 4 when a call from the emergency dispatch center came over the radio reporting a medical aid incident at a home in Morgan Hill. While firefighters and paramedics were on their way, Davis said as soon as he heard the initial call, he looked up and he happened to be “right there,” outside the residence where the emergency was reported.
“I was already out of my vehicle and in my trunk,” gathering his medical bag seconds after he heard the call from dispatch, he said.
The call was related to a 77-year-old woman who was unresponsive and not breathing, according to police. Davis arrived at the scene “well before fire and paramedics,” reads an Oct. 12 press release from MHPD.
“Time is the main factor” in such medical emergencies, Davis, 38, said. “You’ve got to hurry up and get them breathing, with chest compressions” and other first-aid.
Davis entered the woman’s home as her “panicked” caretaker was performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), he told the Times. He intervened in the resuscitation effort with an Automated External Defibrillator, which all on-duty MHPD patrol officers carry in their patrol vehicles.
“My main focus was to bring calm, and start handing out directions,” he said. Davis, who began his career as a police officer about four years ago at MHPD, quickly applied the AED and continued performing CPR on the elderly woman for about five minutes, until paramedics arrived and took over.
The story ended happily moments later, as the woman’s pulse returned shortly after paramedics arrived, Davis said. “She was talking by the time she got to the hospital,” he added.
Davis said it “feels awesome” to know the woman survived the emergency and is on her way to recovery.
“This is why you do it,” said Davis, who served in the U.S. Army for six years before becoming a police officer. “Far too often, the person doesn’t make it, and this is one of the rare instances where your efforts pay off. It feels wonderful.”
Davis and MHPD also credited the the Morgan Hill Community Law Enforcement Foundation and Racing Hearts organization for helping, through donations, to place AEDs in local patrol vehicles. “That’s a new tool we’ve just had in the last year,” Davis said.
For more information about CLEF, visit morganhillclef.org. For more information about Racing Hearts, visit racinghearts.org.
