Three St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office deputies receive Kiwanis Club Life Saver Award

Three St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office deputies receive Kiwanis Club Life Saver Award

Three members of the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office were awarded the Kiwanis Club of St. Bernard-Arabi Life Saver Award at a banquet hosted by Kiwanis on Jan. 14 at Rocky and Carlo’s Restaurant in Chalmette, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Lt. Lacye Lulei, Dep. Alisha Casbon and Dep. Darrien Dufrene, all 911 Communications Center dispatchers, were honored for their efforts to save the life of a person overdosing outside the Communications Center in Chalmette.

On Sept. 10, 2019, Sheriff Pohlmann said, as Lt. Lulei, Dep. Casbon and Dep. Dufrene exited the Communications Center after finishing their shift, they were approached by a male who advised them his girlfriend was in his truck in the parking lot overdosing on narcotics.

While Dep. Casbon ran back inside the 911 Center to advise nightshift 911 dispatchers the female was not breathing and to call Acadian Ambulance and the St. Bernard Fire Department, Lt. Lulei and Dep. Dufrene got the female out of the vehicle and onto the ground, and started performing CPR.

Once the Fire Department arrived on the scene, Narcan was administered and the female was transported by Acadian to St. Bernard Parish Hospital awake and alert.

“If not for the quick thinking and reactions of Lt. Lulei, Dep. Casbon and Dep. Dufrene, the outcome may have been much different,” said Maj. Angie Huff, commander of the 911 Communications Center.

Lt. Lulei has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2007, Dep. Casbon started in 2011, and Dep. Dufrene was hired in 2018. Lt. Lulei and Dep. Casbon are both graduates of P.O.S.T, or Police Officer Standards in Training police academy.

Sheriff Pohlmann praised the deputies at the banquet for their efforts which saved the woman’s life, and also for their hard work and dedication to a position that often gets overlooked.

“The 911 dispatchers are the true first responders,” the Sheriff said.

Kiwanis Life Saver Committee Chairman Sam Catalanotto said the Kiwanis Club started presenting these awards more than a decade ago as a way to recognize first-responders in the parish for the work they do to protect the public. The award is presented quarterly to parish first responders chosen by the Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department, he said.

“They are the first people through the door, and usually the last ones out, in an emergency, putting their lives on the line everyday,” Catalanotto said.

Anyone interested in joining the St. Bernard/Arabi Kiwanis Club community service organization is welcome to attend one of its luncheons each Tuesday at noon in the Rocky and Carlo’s Sicilian Room, 613 W. St. Bernard Highway in Chalmette. For more information, call Robby Showalter at (504) 616-7312.

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