Towamencin police Chief Tim Troxel presents Officer Christopher McAroy, center, and Detective Christopher Bluem with lifesaving awards during the township supervisors’ June 26, 2024 meeting.
Duo helped save Kimberly Way resident in March
Two of Towamencin’s finest have earned a high honor for saving a resident earlier this year.
Police Detective Christopher Bluem and Officer Christopher McAroy were recognized in late June for their response to a medical call.
“On March 17th, our officers were dispatched to Kimberly Way, for a medical emergency,” said police Chief Tim Troxel.
“When we get these calls, we never know what we’re getting. And we typically show up before the ambulance,” he said.
During that call, the officers responded to a home where a resident had been outside doing yardwork, the chief told the board on June 26, and was later found to have a dangerously low potassium level, causing medical distress when he returned inside.
Towamencin police Chief Tim Troxel presents Officer Christopher McAroy, center, and Detective Christopher Bluem with lifesaving awards during the township supervisors’ June 26, 2024 meeting.“He got inside, and went down. Luckily, observed in front of his wife: he had a seizure in the kitchen, and on the way down, struck his head, and had a little bit of an injury there,” Troxel said.
The man’s wife immediately called 911, and as officers were responding, the man lost consciousness and eventually stopped breathing. She began to perform CPR, and the officers quickly took over when they arrived: “Very critical, in the first five to ten minutes of an incident like this, to keep blood flowing,” the chief said.
Towamencin police Chief Tim Troxel presents Officer Christopher McAroy with a lifesaving award during the township supervisors’ June 26, 2024 meeting.“Our officers immediately launched into CPR, and retried an automatic external defibrillator from their car. It’s basically: ‘Zap, clear,’ except it does everything for us: we slap on the pads, and it checks the heart rhythm,” Troxel said.
The two officers worked to resuscitate the victim, at which time an ambulance arrived, and the officers helped load the resident for transport to Grandview Hospital for further treatment.
“By the time he was loaded onto the ambulance, he had regained spontaneous breathing, and a pulse. Due to the quick intervention of the officers, undoubtedly, he is alive, and kicking, and still with us: and has a birthday coming up” in July, Troxel said.
“I love giving away awards like this, because these guys are out here doing great stuff like this every single day,” he said.
As the supervisors and a room full of family and friends applauded, the chief then presented the two with formal lifesaving awards, and supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson thanked the two on behalf of the board.
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