BFPD officers receive life saving award

BONNERS FERRY — A pair of Bonners Ferry police officers have been presented with the city’s Life Saving Award after acts of heroic service in 2022.

Officer Scott Davis received the award for providing emergency medical aid to a victim of fentanyl overdose. Officer Brandon Johnson received the award in recognition of his courageous and life-saving actions at the scene of a motor vehicle crash in July 2022.

“We are fortunate to have them both on board,” said Bonners Ferry Police Chief Brian Zimmerman. “They are Bonners Ferry boys and put their job first. This is their town and it shows in their performance.”

Davis was named officer of the year in 2022 and Johnson was in 2021.

In December 2022, Officer Scott Davis rushed to the Safeway parking lot where there was an unresponsive person. Upon arrival, Davis learned that the subject had overdosed on fentanyl.

Finding the person unresponsive and without a pulse, Davis immediately administered two doses of Narcan, a medication designed to reverse the effects of opioid overdose, and began chest compressions. After approximately three minutes of compressions and a third dose of Narcan, he was successful in reviving the individual just as EMTs were arriving on scene.

Zimmerman said Davis gained medical experience when in the Army.

“Watching the body camera footage, it looked like a training video, everything went according to the script and perfectly illustrated how to respond to an overdose,” he said.

Without Davis’ decisive actions, the subject likely would have died prior to the arrival of medical personnel, officials said in the press release.

City and Bonners Ferry Police Department officials said they wanted to commend Davis on his life-saving actions in the line of duty.

“You were directly responsible for saving a citizen’s life. You embody in the truest sense of the motto “Serve and Protect,” officials wrote on the award.

In February 2022, Davis also responded to an incident where a person was overdosing on fentanyl at AJ’s Lanes. The man was stabilized and received medical care before being charged.

In July 16, 2022, Johnson responded to a head-on collision near milepost 500.5 on U.S. 95 just south of Bonners Ferry at Peterson Hill.

According to Idaho State Police, a 28-year-old Coeur d’Alene man died from injuries received in the collision.

Johnson, assessing the situation on scene — the car on fire, the oil and gasoline on the road, and a woman screaming in the Silverado. He quickly turned his attention to getting her to safety.

Johnson said that he could hear her screaming from the damaged vehicle. Laying crossways, she was pinned in the front seat. He was able to slide her out of the vehicle and carried off to a safe distance, he said.

“Otherwise she’d have burned alive,” he said.

He said his main focuses were on the fire, the gasoline and the woman in the car. Also on scene assisting was a good samaritan. Johnson said he did not have his fire extinguisher because it was undergoing maintenance.

Johnson told the Herald, the man with the fire extinguisher arrived a few minutes after he got to the scene. His early intervention meant that the fire was put out before the fire department arrived.

The award given to Johnson stated “You put yourself in harm’s way to save another human life with dedication and courage.”