Police officer receives Life Saving Award
CRANBERRY TWP — A police officer was honored Thursday night for keeping a cool head and using his training to save a life.
Cranberry Township Police Officer Joshua Shimko received the Life Saving Award from the township board of supervisors at its meeting for his efforts to save a man who was shot in August.
“This is what we do every day,” Shimko said as he accepted the award. “We don't do this for thanks. I just happened to be the first one on scene. Anyone who puts this uniform on does the same thing.”
In the evening of Aug. 7, Shimko responded to a home on Marshall Road for a report of a shooting and found a man lying on the ground covered in blood. Witnesses confirmed the man had been shot and because of the amount of blood, Shimko quickly recognized the severity of the injury.
“Instinctively he implemented his training from Stop the Bleed,” said Richard Hadley, chairman of the board of supervisors.
Shimko applied a tourniquet that all Cranberry police officers keep with them while on duty and turned it until the blood stopped flowing. Even after the medics arrived on scene, Shimko continued to help with care of the victim, Hadley said.
The man had been shot in the right arm and torso by alleged shooter Kahlil Tavarus Shelton, of Duquesne, during a reported drug deal gone bad. The victim was taken to UPMC Passavant Cranberry before being flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital where he went into surgery for a severed artery.
Shelton was arraigned on felony charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and other related charges.
The next day Police Chief Kevin Meyer received an email from Phil Rozic, EMS Specialist in UPMC Prehospital Care program, saying Shimko's proper use of the tourniquet saved the victim's life. The tourniquet stayed on until the shooting victim went into the operating room, Rozic said.
Earlier this year Cranberry Township Police Department became the first in Butler County to be fully trained and equipped through UPMC's Stop the Bleed program, which trains officers how to use tourniquets and treat wounds and gives each officer a tourniquet. The officers were trained by Cranberry EMS as part of their regular CPR and first aid training.
“Josh, as the record clearly showed, you were calm and cool while working in a highly stressful situation that night,” Hadley said. Cranberry Township EMS Chief Jeff Kelly presented Shimko a new tourniquet since his had been used.
