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Life saving efforts of court officers who aided overdose victim recognized

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Court Security Officers Zachary Ellis, left, and Tyler Stebbins. (Rochester Voice photos)

DOVER - Anyone having business at Strafford County Superior Court is apt to find Court Security Officers Zach Ellis and Tyler Stebbins waiting just inside the front door where they help screen visitors before they enter the building.

But on April 9, they became much more than that. They became life savers for a man passed out in a car in the court parking lot who officials believe had suffered a drug overdose.

It all unfolded around 3:20 p.m. when Ellis and Stebbins were told by a fellow county employee they'd seen a man who appeared unresponsive inside his vehicle.

The scene as Dover EMTs arrive to treat the victim who can be seen laying on a stretcher.

Stebbins was the first to reach the man, who was in the driver's seat slumped over against the steering wheel.

"I tried to rouse him verbally, but there was no response," Stebbins said today during an interview at the courthouse. "I then performed a sternum rub (rubbing the chest) while talking to him, but still nothing."

Dover EMS had already been called, but there was no time to lose, so Ellis rushed to the car with a supply of Narcan, which is used to counter an opioid overdose and has saved countless lives in New Hampshire, Maine and across the country.

Ellis, who like Stebbins has been trained in administering Narcan, said when the two realized the victim was still breathing and had a pulse, there was a good likelihood that he could be suffering from an overdose, so he administered two doses of Narcan, one in each nostril.

"Narcan can't harm you, we've been told that," Ellis said, "So where he was unresponsive, we knew it couldn't hurt."

A Narcan kit as kept in all medbags at Strafford County Superior Courthouse

The two reclined the passenger seat back so the victim could be more comfortable and get the full effect of the life-saving drug, but he remained totally unresponsive.

Then Stebbins administered two more doses, making four doses in all.

After the fourth dose the two began to notice a very slow progression of recovery, but it was 10 or 15 minutes before they began to give hope the victim could be out of the woods.

"By the time (Dover) EMTs were there, he was starting to come out of it," Elis said. "They were able to get him to stand up and get on the stretcher. It felt good to see him coming around."

The experience was both challenging and satisfying for the two men, who said they couldn't have done it without the proper equipment and training from the county.

Both agreed Narcan should probably be considered as a potential addition to any Emergency Medical supply.

"It wouldn't hurt to have it in more medbags," both agreed.

The pair's heroic efforts haven't gone unnoticed by county officials, who will honor both of them with the Strafford County Sheriff's Life Saving Award on April 26 at 9 a.m. The ceremony will take place in the Commissioners Conference Room at the Strafford County Courthouse in Dover.

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