Atascadero Police Sgt. and SLO Courthouse guard honored for saving man's life

Posted: Jan 10, 2012 11:41 PM by Shelby Rhodes
Updated: Jan 11, 2012 9:21 PM

Two honored in Atascadero for saving life

An Atascadero Police Sergeant was honored Tuesday night with a Life Saving Certificate for his quick thinking that saved a man's life last month.

Sgt. Joe Allen was at the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse on December 7. After hearing someone yell "Call 911!" he found an unresponsive man on the floor. Never missing a beat, Sgt. Allen used an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on the man, and performed CPR.

Sgt. Allen was at the courthouse for a jury trial. But when a man fell to the ground near the Palm Street entrance of the building, Allen's plans took a detour.

"I was the first person to attend to him. I went over, checked his pulse. He was still breathing, shallow but breathing. It felt like he still had a pulse so I didn't try any emergency menouvers aside from telling someone to go get an AED." said Sgt. Allen.

It was a life saving decision on the part of Sgt. Allen. And for the man whose life was saved, he is truly lucky it was Allen on scene. Sgt. Allen is responsible for establishing Atascadero Police Department's AED program in 2010. He is charge of getting every officer on streeet, trained on the device.

"I'm very happy that I was in the right place at the right time." Sgt. Allen said modestly.

Both Sgt. Allen, and Anthony, the security guard that ran to grab the AED, are humble about the heroic actions.

"Its not a matter that I was part of it, it's a matter that everyone around me did a great job. Keeping him alive." said Anthony.

Anthony and Sgt. Allen hope this close call, serves as a reminder to other people, the importance of AEDs.

"They're very easy to use, user friendly. You don't need specified training in order to use a device." said Allen.

"Just go for it. Do your best to save the person's life." said Anthony.

Anthony will also be honored at the upcoming San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Meeting, along with Sheriff's Deputies who also helped. The Atascadero Police Department has an AED in every squad car.