POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Two Powder Springs Police officers are being hailed as heroes after they helped save the lives of two people who were suffering from a drug overdose shortly after they were arrested Saturday night.
Ofc. Forman was patrolling the area around Richard D Sailors Parkway when they found a car that had been linked to several shoplifting incidents around town. With the help of Ofc. Miller, they conducted a traffic stop, and all three people inside the car were arrested, police said.
They later found out that all three people had warrants out for their arrest for several different crimes, according to police.
After they got back to the police station to book the suspects, two of the arrestees began to experience a drug overdose from what they had taken just before the traffic stop, according to the officers.
"It turned quickly once we got to the jail," Miller told 11Alive in an interview on Wednesday, adding, "Once I opened the door to the back of my patrol vehicle, I immediately noticed that both male suspects had their head slumped over."
Miller said he initially thought they could have been asleep but quickly asked the suspects if they were alright.
"That's when I asked them. I said, 'Hey, you OK?' I got no response from the first male subject, and then I lifted his head up and immediately noticed his eyes rolling in the back of his head, and he was foaming at the mouth, so at that moment, I knew it was telling me there was a potential overdose going on."
Forman and Miller jumped into action to save them by administering Narcan and saving each person. The third suspect was booked into jail while the other two were taken to the hospital, Powder Springs Police said in a post on social media.
"So, during that time, I alerted Officer Forman, who was able to give me Narcan, and I was able to deploy Narcan on the first subject. And once I deployed that, we removed the first male subject from our vehicle, took him out of handcuffs, and I immediately went to check on the second male subject," Miller said. "Once I checked on him, I noticed the same exact thing -- his eyes rolling in the back of his head, foaming at the mouth, and he was, you know, not responsive to me. So at that moment, we contacted the jail staff, Cobb County Sheriff's Office jailers, they came out, the nurse came out, assisted, and she was able to deploy Narcan in the second male subject."
Listen to them talk about the moment it happened:
Both Miller and Foreman said although they feel good about helping save their lives, they know it's their responsibility to help those in need -- in all situations.
"Well, it definitely makes us feel good that we were able to render medical attention to him quickly," Foreman told 11Alive. "As far as you know, giving them the Narcan, we were able to, you know, do the sternum rubs to kind of get their attention and kind of more awaken them."
"You know, for me, it's. I look at it as this is what we signed up to do. We have a responsibility. What I like to say -- to provide a service to those in need. And during that time, despite, you know, how they came into our custody, whether they are victim, suspect, witness," Miller said. "They needed our attention, and we were there to give them the necessary medical aid that they needed. And in the end, our goal was to make sure that they were number one, safe but alive. And that was the goal. And thankfully, we were able to get them to the hospital."
The Powder Springs Police Department had high praise for their fellow officers.
"Both officers did an outstanding job by first finding offenders in our community and, secondly, treating all arrestees with compassion and saving their lives. Great work, gentlemen!" the department said in the post.