GOSHEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Two Goshen Township police officers were recognized with the department’s Life-Saving Award after a May cardiac-arrest call in nearby Green Township, according to a Salem News report.

Police Chief John Calko presented the award at a township trustees meeting to Officer Russell Batey III and Officer Zachary Hodgson, the report said. Hodgson was unable to attend the meeting because of a prior commitment, according to the photo caption published with the story.

A midnight-turn medical emergency

According to Salem News, Batey and Hodgson responded during the midnight turn on May 18 after an elderly woman stopped breathing. Calko said the officers recognized that she was experiencing cardiac arrest, applied an automated external defibrillator and began CPR until Green Township Fire Department personnel could arrive and transport her.

“They got an AED and provided CPR…Chief Baird said if it was not for these two, she would have died,” Calko said, according to Salem News.

The article attributed the survival assessment to Green Township Fire Chief Todd Baird, as relayed by Calko. ThinBlueNews is not adding medical details beyond what the local report published.

AED training became the difference

Trustee Chair Shawn Mesler said cruiser-equipped AEDs and CPR-trained officers are a major benefit for residents, according to the report. He noted that early shock can be critical during a cardiac event.

Calko also thanked residents who supported an earlier fundraising campaign to buy AEDs for the department, saying the community raised about $15,000 and that the equipment is being used regularly.

The story is a practical example of how a police call can become a first-responder medical chain: dispatch, patrol officers already nearby, AED equipment in the cruiser, CPR training, firefighters and EMS transport all working in sequence before a hospital ever enters the picture.

Sources reviewed

Editorial note: ThinBlueNews used source-reported facts, limited private medical detail, attributed the survival statement to the local report and officials, and used the source-published recognition photo with clear Salem News / Morgan Ahart attribution rather than generated rescue imagery.