Liverpool — When you’re a law-enforcement officer you experience lengthy periods of relative calm — long, boring stakeouts and countless late-night checks for unlocked doors — then suddenly, without warning, you’re in the presence of death. Whether you respond to a traffic fatality or face a felon pointing a gun at you, you can be sure that death’s standing tall there, dark as night.
Deputy Giles saves lives
An Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputy on routine patrol came face to face with what appeared to be a double overdose at 1:43 a.m. last Wednesday, Feb. 10, in North Syracuse. No doubt about it, two young men lay unconscious, knocking on death’s door.
Deputy Lindsey Giles had been dispatched to a Belmore Drive residence for an ambulance call of two unresponsive adult males. Giles took one look at them and noticed their skin turning blue, and they weren’t breathing regularly.
Both guys, who were discovered by a friend, had a weak pulse and were breathing shallowly, a situation often related to cardiac arrest.
Fortunately, Giles knew what to do. She administered the drug Naloxone (aka Narcan) through the nasal passages of both victims. Within minutes, both men regained consciousness with a normal pulse and a regular breathing pattern.
Rescue personnel from the North Syracuse Fire Department and NAVAC Ambulance also responded to the scene. The victims were transported to St. Joseph Hospital for additional medical care and observation.
This is the second time in less than a year that Deputy Giles has saved the life of an overdose victim. Last April, Giles responded to a Mattydale residence for a heroin overdose to a 24-year-old male, and she used the Narcan to save his life as well.
So Giles has saved three lives…so far.
Village overdoses
Liverpool Police Officer Jerry Unger has similarly saved at least two lives.
continued — Late in 2014, Unger responded to three serious drug overdoses here involving the opioid known on the street as H, smack, the boy and, of course, horse.
One of the people was dead when he found her, but the other two were resuscitated via Unger’s quick application of Narcan.
“Heroin addiction happens to all kinds of people,” Unger observed. “It doesn’t know race. It doesn’t know age. It doesn’t know class or culture.”
Cemetery effort funding
Last year, the Village Cemetery Committee officially secured listings for the cemetery on both national and state Registers of Historic Places. Committee chairman Mike Romano hopes those designations will qualify the cemetery for government grants to pay for upkeep and renovation.
So the committee hired a consultant, Environmental Design & Research, which was paid $14,000 and the money came from the village of Liverpool cemetery fund, according to Village Clerk Mary Ellen Sims.
With EDR’s help, the committee applied for a $43,625 grant from the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, but the request was rejected.
Regardless, the committee forges on. On Jan. 14, Romano hosted a public discussion about the history and future of the cemetery attended by about 40 residents at Liverpool Library. The committee has scheduled its next meeting for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Gleason Mansion.
Runnin’ wild!
Liverpool High School’s Tracey Vannatta has been named New York State boys cross country Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and no wonder.
Coach Vannatta proved herself as one of winning-est coaches in the Empire State after her Liverpool boys team unseated Fayetteville-Manlius as sectional champions before going on to win a state public schools championship.
The Warriors also captured the Nike regional New York championship and sent its team to Portland in December for the NXN meet, finishing 10th. Congratulations to both the coach and her fleet-footed runners!
The columnist can be reached at [email protected].
