Capt. Brian Clark and Cpl. Shane Lulei, both of the Sheriff’s Office Marine Division, receive Kiwanis Club Life-Saver Award

Cpl. Shane Lulei and Caot. Brian Clark hold their Life-Saver Awards given them by the St. Bernard Kiwanis Club. With them, from left, are Sheriff James Pohlmann, Chief Deputy Richard Baumy, Mike Gorbaty, President of the Kiwanis Club; Maj. Chad Clark and Sam Catalanotto, chairman of the Life-Saver Committee.

Capt. Brian Clark and Cpl. Shane Lulei, about to receive their awards. Seated is Mike Gorbaty, President of the Kiwanis Club, and behind them is Sam Catalanotto, chairman of the Life-Saver Committee.

Whether or not they have met them, boaters in St. Bernard Parish have good friends in Capt. Brian Clark and Cpl. Shane Lulei, both of the Sheriff’s Office Marine Division.

Clark and Lulei are the ones who go out to rescue boaters who have broken down, gotten stuck on a mud flat, had a medical emergency or simply got lost in St. Bernard Parish waters

Sometimes it’s during the day while they are on duty, but just as likely it’s at night or on weekends when they are off.

Because of their work to help people, Clark and Lulei have been chosen to receive the Kiwanis Club Life-Saver Award.

The Kiwanis Club gives the award four times a year for special actions, twice to parish sheriff’s deputies and twice to firefighters.

The ceremony included Sheriff Pohlmann, Sam Catalanotto – chairman of the Kiwanis Life-Saver Committee – and Mike Gorbaty, President of Kiwanis. Several ranking deputies including Chief Deputy Richard Baumy and Maj. Chad Clark, brother of Brian Clark, attended the event.

In presenting the award, Catalanotto said that more than 10 years ago the Kiwanis Club started it as a way to recognize first-responders in the parish for the work they do to protect the public. “They are the first people through a door’’ to rescue someone in an emergency, he said. “They put their lives on the line’’ for St. Bernard.

Clark and Lulei go out dozens of times in winter to rescue people, often when temperatures are dropping and lives could be at stake if the boaters haven’t taken special precautions before they left such as bringing a charged cell phone, food, fluids, blankets and flares or flashlights.

And summer is even busier for St. Bernard boaters, when temperatures can be soaring.

Clark, a native of St. Bernard Parish, retired as Captain after a 25-year career with the State Wildlife and Fisheries Department in 2008 and came to work for the Sheriff’s Office, where he commands the Marine Division.

Clark also led a group of 60 officers after Hurricane Katrina which rescued people from flooded nursing homes, structures and other areas in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish.

He told the Kiwanis Club members he and Lulei enjoy being out on the water and helping people. “It’s our way of life,’’ he said. “Its our families who make the sacrifices for us to do this.’’

He also said Sheriff James Pohlmann supports the work of the Marine Division and “gives us the equipment we need.’’

Team work and leadership is stressed at the Sheriff’s Office, he said, adding, “No one in this agency leaves until a job is done.’’

Lulei, also a St. Bernard native, has spent 16 years working for both the Sheriff’s Office and parish Fire Department. He has been involved in fire rescue situations as well as rescues on water.

Lelei said, “I love the Sheriff’s Office and the Fire Department 100 percent I do this for all our kids in this parish.’’

Sheriff Pohlmann also spoke, saying of Clark and Lulei, ”I have to be one of the luckiest sheriffs in this state to have guys like this.” They are well deserving of recognition as life-savers, the sheriff said. And unfortunately, he said, they have had to respond to tragic boating accidents including one several years ago in which a young girl died.