A pair of quick thinking members of the force at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office were able to help a fellow employee ensure that she got treatment after she had trouble breathing and began to have an asthma attack at the jail this morning.
Corporal Ben Watson noticed that one of the jail nurses Jennifer Swift was having trouble breathing when she arrived for work this morning at the jail around 6 a.m., and stayed with her at her car until she was able to recover.
Then as she was about to climb the stairs to start work for the day, she suffered an asthma attack.
In an evening posting by the Sheriff’s Office, they honored Watson and Jail Officer Zach Morton for their fast actions to get help and bring an oxygen tank and mask to help Swift until EMS personnel just around the corner were able to get there and take over and ultimately transport Swift to the hospital for further treatment.
Sheriff Johnny Moats tonight added his thanks for the actions taken during what could have turned out much worse.
“We are very thankful to Cpl. Benjamin Watson for his quick response,” Moats said. “His actions likely saved her life.”
Here’s the text of the original post from the Polk County Sheriffs Office:
This morning at approximately 6am one of our Nurses, Jennifer Mull Swift arrived at work and began having difficulty breathing. Cpl. Ben Watson was in the parking lot at the time and noticed Nurse Jennifer and asked her if she was ok. She said yes and sat in her truck for a minute to catch her breath. Cpl. Watson stayed with her just in case she needed help. As she approached the building to clock in her breathing got worse and she began having an asthma attack. Cpl. Watson then notified 911 that they needed an ambulance and radioed for Jailer Zach Morton to bring him an oxygen tank and mask from medical until EMS could get there. Once EMS arrived Cpl. Watson and Officer Morton helped EMS assist Jennifer onto the ambulance where she was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
Thank you Cpl. Watson and Officer Morton for your quick response to help save one of our lifesavers.
We love you Jennifer and are praying for a quick recovery!
