Officers recognized for life-saving efforts

If ever there was a time for a lesson to stick, it was Oct. 12.
That’s the day an inmate at the Steele County Detention Center collapsed, apparently from a cardiac issue.
Greg Huebbe was in the pod that morning when the man’s cellmate “came out, hysterical, calling for help.”
When Huebbe got to him, the man had no pulse and was experiencing agonal breathing – a sign he wasn’t getting enough oxygen.
The first report Leah Kent received was that the man had fallen, but she knew his history of cardiac trouble.
“I got the AED, got the ambulance rolling, got down there and initiated CPR,” said Kent, a longtime nurse who has been at the detention center for 14 years. She teaches CPR and first aid at the facility, but it was the first time she’d been involved in a “full code.”
“The crew jumped right into action,” Kent said, “and they remembered everything I taught them.”
That crew included Huebbe, Jesse Steneman and Matt Gwin.
All four were recognized last week by the Steele County Board of Commissioners for their life-saving efforts.
Sheriff Lon Thiele made the presentation.
Steneman, a corporal at the facility, wasn’t close to the pod when the man collapsed, “but it’s always our job to respond,” he said.
He joined Kent and Huebbe, who were already performing CPR. Gwin also arrived, and the four took turns doing chest compressions and rescue breathing.
Finally, after several rounds of CPR and five shocks from the AED, “we got a very faint pulse,” Huebbe said.
Paul Prissel, the assistant administrator of the detention center, was in charge that day.
“As soon as I heard them call for the crash cart, I knew it was bad,” he said. “I went down there to just help navigate things, and stayed out of the way. They worked very well together; they did everything they were supposed to do, they did it well, and they’re heroes for doing it.”
Huebbe still gets emotional about the incident, which he said taught him to be aware of medical issues inmates may have so that he can be prepared.
“He was an inmate, sure, but he’s a human first.”
The man, who was not identified, has recovered.