Police awards include 33 cases of aiding people who OD’d

Officers recognized for using naloxone to revive people.

The grip of the COLUMBUS — opioid epidemic on the city was evident Thursday night during the Columbus Division of Police annual awards ceremony.

Award citations were handed out to 144 Colum- bus police officers for bravery, lifesaving and exemplary actions in the line of duty. Two deputies from the Fair- field County sheriff ’s office and two Minerva Park police officers were also recognized for their work with Columbus police officers, along with commendations awarded to eight citizens.

This year, awards were given for 33 instances where a Columbus police officer administered a dose of nal- oxone or provided first aid for people who overdosed on heroin. Officer Michael Aaron Neal was recognized for using nalaxone on four occasions and Officer Mat- thew Deerwester for using it to save lives on three occasions.

Sgt. Dean Worthington said there probably could have been many more awards because these awards only involve cases where a super- vising sergeant submitted the paperwork for a citation.

Some Columbus police offi- cers — particularly in South and West Side neighborhoods with the highest heroin over- dose rates — have been carrying naloxone for about a year. Worthington said the awards ceremony this year reflects some of the results.

Officer Joseph C. Curmode III, 25, is the third in his fam- ily to serve in law enforce- ment and works the second shift in the 13th Precinct on the South Side. His father is Sgt. Joseph C. Curmode Jr. and his mother is Police Commander Suzanne Curmode.

The 13th Precinct was one of the first to issue naloxone to officers, a policy that the young Curmode embraces.

Officer Curmode was recog- nized for his action on March 12 when he was one of four Columbus policemen who responded to the McDon- ald’s parking lot on Lock- bourne Road near Route 104. A man had overdosed inside his locked car. Officer Seth Casto used a window punchout tool to gain access and Curmode and another offi- cer administered naloxone. Curmode also administered CPR until paramedics were able to take the man to Ohio- Health Grant Hospital.

During the past year, Cur- mode said he has counted 26 occasions where he has administered naloxone. He said that opioid addiction touches all socioeconomic groups and he’s had personal experience with relatives.

“You have all these people who aren’t bad people who get stuck in this really bad situation of being addicted to an opioid or opiate,” Curmode said. “It’s no different than if I would show up and I would administer CPR because a person was having a heart attack.”