Cape Girardeau police officers receive life saving award, medals

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – Several Cape Girardeau police officers received life saving awards and medals for their work to save people’s lives.

January 27, 2023

Three Cape Girardeau police officers received a life saving award for their work to help an elderly man lying in a ditch.

On Friday, January 27, 2023 at around 11:34 p.m., Ptlm. McCain was on patrol in the area of Central High School when he noticed a vehicle sitting in a field adjacent to Interstate 55 near Wolverine Lane.

It appeared the vehicle had been driven into the field from the dead end and became stuck in the mud.

Cpl. Rogers and Ptlm. Koesterer arrived on scene to assist.

They determined that the area where the vehicle was sitting in was in the jurisdiction of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office. However, due to the fact that the vehicle was just outside the city’s jurisdiction, they decided to check the vehicle for any possible people.

Ptlm. McCain, Cpl. Rogers and Ptlm. Koesterer found the vehicle was unoccupied and not running.

They searched the area. Ptlm. McCain found an elderly male lying on his back in several inches of water at the bottom of a drainage ditch next to I-55.

The officers tried to call to him, but he was too weak to get out on his own.

Ptlm. McCain and Ptlm. Koesterer entered the ditch to assist him. The man appeared to be disoriented and was unable to tell officers how he became stuck in the ditch.

It was unclear how long he had been in the ditch. He complained of being very cold (the air temperature at the time was approximately 40 degrees).

Medical personnel arrived on scene and got the man out of the ditch.

His blood sugar was highly elevated. He taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Shortly after, the Cape Girardeau Police Department’s Communications Unit advised that the man had just been entered as a missing person with dementia by the Murphysboro, Illinois Police Department.

They contacted the Murphysboro Police Department. The man’s family was able to respond to the hospital to be with him.

“This incident was completely initiated by an officer, who on his own and without any outside influence, took it upon himself to check on the vehicle. This further proves that without these officers intervening, it is possible that the victim would have not been noticed for some time, and possibly too late to help him. Due to his medical condition, along with the fact that he was wet and exposed to cold temperatures, the situation could have easily been fatal if not for the immediate actions of Ptlm. McCall, Cpl. Rogers, and Ptlm. Koesterer,” according to a post on the Cape Girardeau Police Department’s Facebook page.

Due to this being Ptlm. McCain’s second Life Saving award, he received the Life Saving medal.

The three also received life saving awards in 2023.

Friday, February 24, 2023

Five officers recently received awards for life saving work in 2023.

On Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 around 2:08 a.m., officers responded to a person who had been shot at a local convenience store. When officers arrived, they found the person lying on his back on the ground bleeding profusely from the groin area. After ensuring there was no further threat to officers or other civilians on scene, officers immediately began life-saving measures to the victim.

Ptlm. Whistler and Ptlm. Humphreys placed a tourniquet on the victim’s left leg. However, officers saw that the victim appeared to be bleeding from his right side, not his left as he had advised.

The victim was rolled onto his back so officers could access and assess his wound(s). Officers saw what appeared to be an entrance gunshot wound in the victim’s right groin area. The victim was losing a large amount of blood from the wound.

Cpl. Farrow got a gauze and began packing it into the wound to try to stop the profuse bleeding.

The victim was then rolled onto his stomach as officers searched for a possible exit wound which was found on the right side of his body.

Ptlm. Owens and Ptlm. Whistler packed the exit wound with gauze to try to stop the bleeding.

Sgt. Blanner applied pressure to the front entrance wound using gauze to try and slow and stop the bleeding. However, the victim was bleeding heavily from both gunshot wounds.

At this time, officers had to physically insert fingers into the entrance and exit wounds to stop the bleeding fully and try to save the victim’s life.

Officers continued to hold pressure inside the wounds for more than 10 minutes, even after medical personnel arrived.

The victim was taken to a local hospital and survived his injuries.

It was determined that the victim had accidentally shot himself in the groin area when trying to disassemble his legally owned firearm.

Based on these officers’ actions and extraordinary performance in their duty to save the life of the victim, who would have likely died if not for their actions, they received Cape Girardeau Police Department’s Life Saving Award.

Due to this being the second Life Saving Award for Sgt. Blanner, Cpl. Farrow, and Ptlm. Owens, these officers received the Life Saving Medal.