RECIPIENTS CITATIONS. October 15, 2012 Ceremony (Government House, Regina) DIANA KOCSKI Honorary Testimonial Certificate Lumsden, Saskatchewan

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "RECIPIENTS CITATIONS. October 15, 2012 Ceremony (Government House, Regina) DIANA KOCSKI Honorary Testimonial Certificate Lumsden, Saskatchewan"

Anne Bradley
6 years ago
Views:

1 RECIPIENTS CITATIONS October 15, 2012 Ceremony (Government House, Regina) DIANA KOCSKI Honorary Testimonial Certificate Lumsden, Saskatchewan It was a windy August 8, 2011 on Last Mountain Lake, causing a large wave to hit the side of a small boat carrying three men. The boat capsized throwing the men into the water none of them were wearing lifejackets. Diana Kocski and her boyfriend were walking their dog along the beach and observed the incident. They immediately ran to give assistance. Two of the men managed to reach the shore with some assistance from Diana s boyfriend. The third man was still in the water, face down, about 20 feet from shore. Diana dove into the lake and swam towards him. She pulled him back to shore and, with the help of one of the other victims, dragged him out of the lake. CPR was administered to the unconscious man but he could not be resuscitated. JANELLE TARRANT Honorary Testimonial Certificate Regina, Saskatchewan On May 9, 2012, a group of people were riding All Terrain Vehicles in the bush northwest of Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan when one them hit a patch of soft ground and the vehicle rolled into a slough. A 3-year-old boy riding in a car seat attached to the A.T.V. suddenly became completely submerged in the murky water. In this remote area, there is no cell phone reception and emergency crews would not have reached the scene in time. Janelle Tarrant, a second year nursing student, was with the group, and with assistance from others she immediately began to try to extricate the toddler. The ATV was floating upside down and their attempts to right it or unbuckle the child were unsuccessful. They tried to winch the vehicle but were unable to do so. Finally, they managed to pull the ATV to shore where they removed the now unconscious boy from the water. He was grey in colour and not breathing. Janelle quickly applied CPR and in a few minutes he began to vomit and cry. He was transported to hospital by Janelle and the boy s family and has since fully recovered. Janelle s actions and training certainly saved the child from death or permanent injury from oxygen deprivation. ELDON MAXIE Bronze Medal Carlyle, Saskatchewan On August 18, 2011, Eldon Maxie was providing security for the White Bear Nation. He had been notified by a cabin owner that a number of cabins had been broken into and currently there were some unknown men in one of them. While Eldon was walking en-route, one of the men

2 exited the cabin and confronted the cabin owner. The man pulled out a knife and brandished it in a menacing manner at the cabin owner, threatening his life. The owner yelled for help. Eldon, now behind the assailant, silently caught up to him, grabbed him, and wrestled him to the ground. He then held him down with the assistance of the cabin owner. When the police arrived and took custody of the accused, Eldon was able to locate the knife, which was retrieved and held as evidence. It was later determined the accused had a lengthy criminal record, was a gang member, and would not have hesitated to use the knife to stab someone. Eldon certainly had saved the cabin owner from serious injury or worse. SCOTT MURRAY, CST. DANIEL EARLE Bronze Medal (Murray) and Honorary Testimonial Certificate (Earle) Melville and Carlyle, Saskatchewan On April 17, 2012, a brief winter storm, with cold winds and heavy snow falling, had created extremely slippery driving conditions on Highway 9 near Carlyle Sask. Scott Murray had been driving some distance behind a truck when he lost sight of it, but seconds later he spotted it floating in a slough. He stopped his vehicle, grabbed a tire iron, jumped into the freezing water and swam to it. By the time he managed to break the back window, the truck had sunk to the bottom and it was now under three feet of dark icy water. Scott was unable to locate the driver and he was feeling numb from exposure to the frigid water. He struggled back to shore where bystanders wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in a vehicle to warm up. Meanwhile, Cst. Daniel Earle responded to the call; he found Scott Murray who directed him to the submerged vehicle. Cst. Earle had waded chest deep into the freezing water when the Fire Department arrived. He waded back to shore, donned one of the Fire Department s ice rescue suits, and returned to the submerged vehicle. Along with two firemen, also in ice suits, a tow rope was wrapped around a pillar of the truck and it was winched towards the shore. Once the back window was above water, Cst Earle was able to reach in and pull the driver from the vehicle. He was passed to those on shore where CPR was started by EMS. The driver was transported to hospital but he succumbed to his injuries. Scott Murray was also taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia. Cst. Earle went home to change into dry clothes and he returned to the scene to assist with the investigation. BLAINE SWITZER, JONATHAN THOMASON, ANTHONY WILLIAMS, KEN WILLIAMS Bronze Medal (Switzer, Thomason, and Williams) Honorary Testimonial Certificate (Williams) Rush Lake and Swift Current, Saskatchewan On October 11, 2011, a single vehicle accident occurred on Highway #1, near Rush Lake, Saskatchewan. The 19-year-old female driver had lost control of the car and it entered the ditch, became airborne and rolled several times. She was ejected from the vehicle, while the seriously injured 18-year-old female passenger remained in the front seat held in by her seatbelt. Blaine Switzer and Jonathan Thomason were working near the accident scene, spotted the car, and jumped into their truck to see what had happened. When they arrived, the vehicle was already

3 on fire and they quickly ran to see if anyone was inside. They found the badly injured and unresponsive passenger still strapped in the front seat. About this time, Anthony and Ken Williams arrived to help. The fire was spreading rapidly while Blaine and Jonathan were frantically trying to free the injured female, but the seatbelt would not release. With Anthony s help they managed to bend the frame of the vehicle enough to loosen the seat belt and cut it. The 3 rescuers were now able to free the unconscious girl and move her to safety. None of the rescuers were injured; however, the fire had melted parts of their jackets. Undoubtedly they had saved the girl s life. Meanwhile, Ken Williams found the driver who had been ejected from the vehicle and he moved her to a safe distance away from the scene as the fire had spread to the grass in the ditch. He left her with other bystanders and began fighting the flames with his shirt to keep the fire away from the first responders who had arrived and were performing first aid on the injured girls. Unfortunately, the driver did not survive. LARRY CUSTER, KENDALL LINKLATER, STEVEN MERASTY Silver Medal (Custer), Bronze Medal (Linklater and Merasty) Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan On the afternoon of January 16, 2011, due to weather and road conditions, a head on collision occurred between a truck and a small car near Creighton, Saskatchewan. The lone male driver in the car died on impact. The truck flipped onto its roof and caught fire. A couple was trapped inside, although only the woman had survived the impact. Larry Custer, Kendall Linklater, and Steven Merasty were travelling in the area and came upon the accident scene. There were already several other vehicles at the site and a number of people were watching the truck fire. Larry Custer thought he heard screaming coming from the vehicle. He grabbed a shovel, ran to the truck and opened the driver s side door, but could not see inside as there was too much smoke. He ran to the passenger side, tried to kick out the window, but it would not break. He finally used a truck jack to smash the window and was able to spot the legs of the injured woman trapped inside. Larry tried to pull the woman out but he was getting dizzy and weak from the noxious fumes. He shouted for help as the fire intensified and the possibility of an explosion became imminent. Kendall Linklater and Steven Merasty had been shovelling snow onto the burning vehicle but the fire and smoke kept increasing. They ran to assist Larry, who was barely able to help the woman due to his weakened state; however, all three managed to carry her away from the burning truck to safety. Kendall Linklater got blankets for the injured woman, and with Larry s assistance took her to another vehicle. Attending EMS personnel transported her to hospital and treated all three rescuers for smoke inhalation. CST. PETER CHANDLER, JEREMY BROWN Silver Medal (Chandler), Honorary Testimonial Certificate (Brown) North Battleford and Rockhaven, Saskatchewan About 9 p.m. on July 19, 2012, RCMP Cst. Peter Chandler was flagged down by a motorist on Highway 40 near Sweet Grass First Nation. He was advised that a car had left the highway and it had become fully submerged in a very large pond. Cst. Chandler ran down the 40-foot embankment through waist-high alder bushes to the edge of the pond. He could see the driver in the water yelling that someone was still in the car. Stripping off everything but his pants he dove into the vile, leech-infested water, to try to save the passenger. The water was seven to nine feet

4 deep, cold and murky, with zero visibility. He could not tell where the vehicle was or whether there was any submerged debris he might get caught in. The driver, who was still in the water, directed Cst. Chandler to the vehicle s location, approximately 10 feet from shore. Cst. Chandler swam down and felt the overturned vehicle. He surfaced, caught his breath and again went down some 6 feet, this time finding an open widow. He reached inside, tried to pull the passenger out but he could not budge him. Surfacing a second time, the Constable noted a bystander at the top of the embankment, instructed him to call 911, then swam back down to the vehicle. He located the seatbelt around the victim, but as the latch was too far to reach, he could not unbuckle it. Jeremy Brown had arrived and was down by the water s edge when Cst Chandler surfaced and called to him to get a knife. Jeremy Brown returned with a knife and tossed it to Cst. Chandler who again swam down to the trapped occupant. In his attempts to free the victim, Cst. Chandler injured his hands but was finally able to cut the seatbelt, free the victim, and bring him to the surface. Cst. Chandler swam with the unconscious man to shore and, with Jeremy Brown s assistance, dragged him out of the water. They proceeded to apply CPR and were exhausted by the time Emergency crews arrived. The fire rescue and ambulance crew continued with CPR but were unable to revive the victim. Cst Chandler needed several stitches to close the wounds on his hands from trying to cut the seatbelt. RADOJE MILIC Silver Medal Regina, Saskatchewan On the afternoon of November 22, 2011, Radoje Milic was at work when an employee rushed in to tell him that an elderly neighbour was looking for help as his house was on fire. Radoje immediately ran outside and found the soot-covered senior now standing in front of his burning residence. Radoje could see thick smoke pouring through the back door so he immediately called the fire department. When the man informed him that his wife was still inside the burning house, Radoje ran to the back door. He entered the house, but was met by a wall of thick, choking smoke, causing him to run outside for some air before making a second attempt. The layout of the house was unknown to him and through the smoke and heat he could hear the crackling of the flames. In near total darkness, Radoje called out to the elderly woman trying to find her but he ran out of air and had to step outside again to catch his breath. He raced back in for a third time and this time he thought he heard a sound to his right. Extending his hands he felt around and he was able to find the victim. Gasping for air himself, he managed to grasp her tightly and pull her outside to safety. Clearly, without Radoje Milic s assistance, the senior would not have been able to find her way out of the smoke-filled burning house. Due to the heavy smoke conditions, Radoje was transported to hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation.

5 TERRY PALASCHAK, ALAN PALASCHAK Silver Medal (Terry), Honorary Testimonial Certificate (Alan) Cadillac, Saskatchewan On July 4, 2012, a single vehicle collision and rollover occurred near Val Marie, trapping the single occupant driver in the vehicle. The vehicle started to burn and this was observed by Alan Palaschak who was driving a tractor in a nearby field. He called his brother Terry Palaschak at their farmhouse. Terry grabbed a fire extinguisher and drove to the scene. He broke a passenger window in the vehicle and attempted to put out the fire so that he could pull the driver out; however, quickly spreading flames and toxic fumes from the smoke prevented Terry from getting at the driver. Terry then ran to the rear window and smashed it out. Terry and Alan were now able to pull the badly burned male out of the furiously burning vehicle and take him across the road away from the fire. The two men then carried the injured man to Terry s vehicle so that he could take the victim to town to meet the ambulance. Although Terry refused medical treatment for himself he was admitted to Swift Current Hospital next day for smoke inhalation and other complications as a result of the fire and dense smoke.

Preliminary 2017 Minnesota Boating Accident and Drowning Summary

Preliminary 2017 Minnesota Boating Accident and Drowning Summary Prepared by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Boat and Water Safety as of 10/31/17 Summary of Accidents as of 10/31 each year Accident