Police honoured for their bravery
The man who called 911 was no longer talking to the dispatcher, even though the line was still open.
Niagara Regional Police Const. Jeffrey Cross was the first officer on the scene. He found the man hanging in a basement, attempting to end his own life.
Cross was able to cut him down and start CPR, but he needed both his hands and there was no time to stop to use his radio to call for help.
But the phone line was still open and a dispatcher was listening. So Cross shouted for help.
An ambulance was dispatched and Cross’s quick thinking saved that man’s life.
It was not the first intervention for a person in distress the NRP responded to last year. Constable Jeffrey Dam was also dispatched to a suicide attempt — a man on a roadside, covered in gasoline and holding a lighter.
Dam was able to talk with the man, calming him and eventually wrapping him in a blanket and staying with him until paramedics arrived.
Police, along with firefighters and paramedics, are the first responders on the scene and more and more often our men and women are the first people to arrive to assist someone in crisis.” Chief Jeff McGuire
The stories of two officers saving the lives to people in crisis are dramatic.
Cross and Dam were among several officers recognized for their contributions to public safety and the service during the annual NRP awards ceremony at White Oaks resort Sunday afternoon.
Chief Jeff McGuire said the situations Cross and Dam found themselves in happen more often than the public probably realizes.
“Police, along with firefighters and paramedics, are the first responders on the scene and more and more often our men and women are the first people to arrive to assist someone in crisis,” McGuire said. “It happens all the time.” He said the frequency of these sorts of calls have made it necessary for officers to develop a better understanding of mental health issues and how to handle people in distress to protect the public and themselves.
The recent addition of a mental health nurse joining a St. Catharines officer on patrols downtown, for instance, can further help defuse situations that could otherwise become tragic.
Even as officers need to understand how to cope with these situations, so does their own mental health need tending to.
McGuire said the NRP has its own internal peer support system to help officers who have to step into such intense and potentially dangerous situations.
In total, 110 awards were pre-
sented to Sunday officers, retirees, civilian staff and members of the community during the awards ceremonies.