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Life Saving Incident

September 24, 2016
California
Orange County
Orange

On Sept 24, 2016, Officer Jonathan Rivera was enjoying a family vacation in Southern California when he noticed that a girl who looked to be about 18 appeared to be having difficulty in the hotel swimming pool. The next thing he knew, the girl’s mother had jumped in to help her out. Officer Rivera watched as they got her out and sat her down on a chaise lounge. She seemed OK. Then things started to go downhill. The girl appeared to go into a seizure. Rivera heard the mother yell for help. He saw that the girl was unresponsive. Rivera jumped into action. Amid a lot of yelling and screaming, he knelt down and felt her pulse. Nothing. He put his ear down next to her mouth. No breath. Then training kicked in. Officer Rivera eased her down onto the concrete and started doing chest compressions — the key part of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation that jolts the heart back to life. CPR instructors teach students to time their compressions to the beat of the Bee Gees' 1977 hit “Stayin’ Alive,” so Rivera had the song in his head as he worked. A woman rushed to Rivera’s side, offering to help. He assigned her to breath into the girl’s mouth. Thirty compressions. Two breaths. Repeat. People had already called 911. Officer Rivera knew he had to keep going until on-duty first responder's arrived. At least twice, the girl started breathing and coughed up water. Then she reverted back to not breathing, forcing Rivera to resume CPR. Paramedics arrived and Officer Rivera handed the girl over to the emergency crew. Off she went in the ambulance. He never even got her name. Officer Rivera stayed in Southern California the next day trying to find out who she was and what had happened to her. Two days later, after returning home, he got a call from a paramedic who indicated that the girl was still alive, possibly in the hospital. To this day Officer Rivera still does not know the girl's name. Officer Rivera said he didn’t tell the story to fellow cops in Hanford because he felt like he was just doing what he was supposed to do. “I’m a dad” Officer Rivera said. “I see it as, if my kid was having an issue, if there was somebody there who could help, they should help. I’m not interested in tooting my own horn. What we should be doing for each other is helping each other when we can. I knew what I needed to do, but I was nervous as heck,” he added. Officer Rivera said he was happy be recognized however he didn’t go looking for it. “I kind of look on it as, God put me in a position to help,” he said. “I do know, based on what the paramedics said, if I hadn’t acted, she definitely would have been dead.” For his efforts Officer Rivera was awarded the Hanford Police Departments first live saving medal in department history.

The history of law enforcement in the United States is a long and wonderful history of bravery. This website is dedicated to documenting the heroic deeds of law enforcement officers throughout the United States who have either given or risked their lives to save others. There are many stories of bravery and heroism for many who are considered first responders. However, it is those in law enforcement who are most likely to be the first to arrive upon a location requiring life saving acts engaging dangerous hostage takers, running into burning buildings/vehicles, providing first aid to seriously injured victims, saving near drowning victims and much more are what the women and men of law enforcement do routinely and at many times, great peril to their own safety.
It is our mission to document the history of lives saved by those dedicated women and men in law enforcement. To share with others the dramatic deeds of those individuals who are the first, first responders. It is so important for our citizens to understand that law "enforcement" is not always about enforcing the law but rather being there when our citizens need us.
It is to this end we are dedicated to promoting documentation regarding the history of law enforcement and the lives they have saved.