Page 47 - FOP March 2017 Newsletter

Police Officer Tomasz Sikorski Star #7011
Police Officer Cyrus Martinez Star #16370
Police Officer Jason C. Cloherty Star #7468
Officers Jason Cloherty, Cyrus Martinez and Tomasz Sikorski had just cleared a robbery arrest on Dec. 29, 2016, in the 25th District when the trio came across a man down in the street with a crowd gathered around him in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
They stopped at North and Hamlin avenues to quick- ly realize the man was in bad shape.
“We noticed he was barely breathing. We watched his chest and noticed it was barely moving,” said Martinez, a four-year veteran who works in the tactical unit. Mar- tinez added that the man “was almost purple” with a “super faint” pulse. The officers realized the man was suffering from cardiac arrest, and they needed to act quickly. Martinez, who learned CPR training as a cadet, began chest compressions.
“After a few seconds, his pulse was gone. His heart stopped beating,” Martinez recalled. “It just stopped completely, and it started coming back after a few sec- onds of pumping.”
Cloherty just happened to be with the Martinez-Sikor- ski tandem because his partner was not working that particular day. He immediately called for an ambulance as Martinez performed CPR on the man. Medics from the Chicago Fire Department arrived within minutes – all the while, the officers did what they hoped could save the man.
“It was wild. His pulse was very faint and then gone,” Martinez said.
The officers’ fast work helped the man regain con- sciousness by the time medics hit the scene to transport him to a local hospital. Without the officers’ actions, it is likely the man would have died on the street.
“At the time, I wasn’t sure he was going to make it,” Martinez recalled. The officers visited the man and his grateful family the next day in the hospital. Marti- nez previously said the man looked completely differ- ent than their first meeting on the street. The reunion
helped confirm that the officers’ lifesaving actions made a difference.
“We were just curious if it helped, and I guess it did,” Martinez said.
It is with great appreciation and pride that the Fra- ternal Order of Police, Chicago Lodge 7, presents Offi- cer Jason Cloherty, Officer Tomasz Sikorski and Offi- cer Cyrus Martinez with Lifesaving Awards. d
Not a job for the faint of heart
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• Formerly employed by the Cook County Sheri ’s Police, Civilian Dispatch
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MARCH 2017 47
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