IUPD officers, Monroe deputy receive award for life-saving incident

The American Heart Association recognized the performance of several Bloomington police officers June 9 at the American Heart and Stroke Heroes Day in downtown Indianapolis. \nRebecca Lucas and Dan Keeler of the IU Police Department received awards, as well as Monroe County Deputy Jon Barefoot. These officers all played a role in saving the life of IU employee Paul "Woody" Doughman during an incident in April. \nOfficers Lucas and Keeler received the American Heart Association Hero Award at the annual American Heart and Stroke Society awards ceremony. IUPD was the only law enforcement agency honored with a "save" at the ceremony, according to a press release. \nKeeler said he found the experience very rewarding. The April incident was the first successful resuscitation attempt in his career, coincidently it was also the first time he worked with an automated external defibrillator. \nKeeler responded to a dispatch for a person not breathing shortly after remanding a prisoner to jail. When he arrived Lucas was attaching the AED to Doughman, who was having CPR performed on him by a civilian. \n"At that point my CPR and (emergency medical technician) training took over," Keeler said. "I relieved the person doing (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) and Jon (Barefoot) and I took over efforts." \nThe AED stated a shock was advised and it then shocked Doughman, Keeler said. Doughman regained a pulse and began breathing after Keeler continued CPR. \nDoughman was then transported to the Bloomington Hospital by Bloomington Hospital Ambulance Service, where he was released about a week later. \n"At the award's ceremony, we met Mr. Doughman and he thanked us for our efforts," Keeler said. "I get a great feeling inside knowing that our training and efforts made such a difference for Mr. Doughman and his family." \nLucas, Keeler and Barefoot are all CPR instructors and Keeler and Barefoot are certified EMTs, according to a press release.