Macomb police officer rewarded for saving suicidal woman's life
Sarah Zeeck
Issue date: 8/25/08 Section: News
The courageous acts of a local police officer were rewarded over the summer. Officer James Rowland of the Macomb Police Department received the Life Saving Medal award June 6 for saving an attempted suicide victim.
Rowland was one of the officers responding to a suicide complaint on March 18 when a suicidal woman shot herself in the chest.
According to Rowland, the bullet penetrated her chest cavity through a lung and exited her back - this is referred to as a sucking chest wound, also called pneumothorax, and is defined by the medical dictionary as "collection of air or gas in the chest or pleural space that causes part or all of a lung to collapse."
At that point, Rowland used rubber gloves to block the entrance and exit wounds to allow the lung to function as intended until emergency personnel could arrive to take care of the situation.
"I'm glad I was in the position where I could help," Rowland said. "Everybody there had a major role to have the successful outcome."
Rowland met all four criteria to receive the award - being on or off-duty, making use of law enforcement training, rescuing someone in a lifesaving situation and having the situation verified by medical professionals.
Rowland was one of the officers responding to a suicide complaint on March 18 when a suicidal woman shot herself in the chest.
According to Rowland, the bullet penetrated her chest cavity through a lung and exited her back - this is referred to as a sucking chest wound, also called pneumothorax, and is defined by the medical dictionary as "collection of air or gas in the chest or pleural space that causes part or all of a lung to collapse."
At that point, Rowland used rubber gloves to block the entrance and exit wounds to allow the lung to function as intended until emergency personnel could arrive to take care of the situation.
"I'm glad I was in the position where I could help," Rowland said. "Everybody there had a major role to have the successful outcome."
Rowland met all four criteria to receive the award - being on or off-duty, making use of law enforcement training, rescuing someone in a lifesaving situation and having the situation verified by medical professionals.
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