Page 45 - December 2019 FOP Magazine

Lifesavers
Chicago Police Officers continue to make heroic responses
n BY DAN CAMPANA
As the saying goes, not all heroes wear capes.
Over the course of recent weeks, heroes in Chicago wore blue and a badge, carried life-saving tools and most importantly, an- swered the call to serve others.
These lifesavers never know what they’ll face on a shift and certainly don’t hit the streets expecting to resuscitate someone,
Officers Ramon Curet and Raul Sandoval
Being dispatched to a traffic crash is commonplace for ev- ery police officer. But early on Nov. 8, Officers Ramon Curet and Raul Sandoval quickly realized there was a lot more to the call they handled on West Washington. The 15th District officers found an upside-down vehicle on fire. Although four occupants had escaped, a child remained trapped in the burning wreck- age. Sandoval entered the car and cut the seat belt that had ensnared the youngster, who was then pulled to safety. All five people riding in the car when the crash occurred survived, with only minor injuries.
Officers Saul Avila, Juan Guerrero, Dawid Kasprzak and Ioannis Mitrogiannis
use a bleeding control kit to keep a teen alive or put personal safety aside to pull a child from a burning vehicle.
None of the officers recently recognized for their heroics like- ly consider their actions to be anything other than just doing their job. Their modesty is genuine to the point where they’d shun being called a hero, but what other word truly applies?
Here’s a glimpse into the amazing actions of some of Chica- go’s latest heroes:
An early morning shooting call on Nov. 19 in the 7100 block of South Lawndale brought together a quartet of Eighth District officers — Saul Avila, Juan Guerrero, Dawid Kasprzak and Io- annis Mitrogiannis — that made all the difference in the world for one teenager. The officers arrived on the scene to find a 15-year-old boy on the ground with gunshot wounds to his back and chest. Using teamwork and their LEMAR training, the officers got the teen’s breathing under control and slowed the bleeding by placing a chest seal over his wounds. The officers also worked to keep the teen calm and alert until firefighters and medics made it to the scene to further treat and transport the victim to the hospital.
Officer Mary Ellen Meuris
Just after 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 20, 22nd District Officer Mary El- len Meuris’ routine patrol in Morgan Park took an unexpected turn. Sitting at her usual morning spot near a school on West 103rd Street, Meuris heard her name being shouted after one of the crossing guards had collapsed in the street. After calling for an ambulance and traffic control, Meuris rushed to help the fall- en woman, Melissa Schofield, and found no pulse. While many people ultimately offered some assistance during this situation, Meuris began CPR with the help of two civilians and continued until medics arrived to take the woman to a nearby hospital, where she made a full recovery. Meuris, a 17-year veteran, and Schofield reunited a few days later. They held hands during a press conference where Meuris modestly deflected the praise, saying, “It took a village that day, and the village triumphed.”
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2019 45