by: Victoria Saha
Posted: Apr 25, 2023 / 06:08 PM PDT
Updated: Apr 25, 2023 / 06:36 PM PDT
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Two security officers are being hailed as heroes after their quick thinking helped them notice the signs of an overdose and do everything they could to save two lives.
Security officers have seen the bad, the ugly, and the scary.
“Every situation is always a touchy one,” Sgt. Jeffrey Carpenter with Protective Force International said.
Sgt. Carpenter and his partner security officer Steven McGinnies regularly patrol together.
“I know the longer we wait there is a chance that these guys may not make it,” McGinnies said.
However, earlier this month they came across two people by University Center Drive and Twain Avenue who were unconscious in a car.
The security officers knew something was wrong.
“Recognizing the signs of overdose it’s the pale and clammy skin and the blue-purple lips,” McGinnies said.
These individuals were experiencing a fentanyl overdose, a drug that can turn deadly quickly.
“Get these guys out,” McGinnies said.
It is all the security officers could think about as they turned to the only tool they could at that moment, which was Narcan.
“How we train is how we perform when we work,” Sgt. Carpenter said. “It was an adrenaline rush.”
Shortly before this incident the force recently implemented the use of Narcan training, according to Jonathan Alvarez the CEO of Protective Force International.
“It just solidifies that every single one of our officers needs to go through training and carry this equipment,” Alvarez said.
The paramedics did arrive shortly after the security officers administered Narcan, after several uses the individuals were breathing and survived.