Deputies from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office were recently presented awards by the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District for two life saving incidents.
Brent Crosswhite, a Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Deputy, was only about a block away when a motorist who had experienced a cardiac event crashed his vehicle in Sisters last April.
The crash occurred near the intersection of East Cascade Avenue and North Larch Street where a 2011 Chevrolet pick-up pulling a 21 foot toy hauler trailer struck a light pole, went into a gravel drainage ditch and then hit a large tree.
Crosswhite’s efforts, with the help of Deputy Bryan Morris and an off-duty firefighter and nurse, earned him his first life saving award.
“We got the gentlemen out of his vehicle and onto the ground and started CPR,” Crosswhite said. “Deputy Morris was able to then retrieve his AED [Automatic External Defibrillator] or defibrillator from his vehicle. You know we’re trained to react to those situations and it all worked out for the best for him.”
That incident earned Deputy Morris the same award, which is his first as well.
Morris received another award, alongside Lieutenant Chad Davis, for saving a man found unconscious in the parking lot of Subway in Sisters last year.
“We had put AED on as well, did CPR, my lieutenant had administered some Narcan,” Morris said. “We were able to help assist bringing him back to consciousness.”
Both deputies credit their first response skills to department training, saying it shows the quality of service and community commitment of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s one of the things that I think is extremely important for us to be proficient in,” Crosswhite said. “To give those people that are in need of medical attention that first best chance to survive.”
