Life Saving Incident

Officer Nolan Kea was presented with a Lifesaving Medal at the January Meritorious Awards Ceremony. In July 2019, while working his assignment at Hanna Park, Officer Kea was notified that a vehicle was overturned in a body of water. The caller was contacted by the driver of the vehicle and was not able to provide the exact location within the park. Officer Kea organized search efforts of regularly frequented bodies of water while the JSO Air Unit responded. The Air Unit directed Officer Kea to a remote area of the park where he located a vehicle overturned and submerged in a body of water. Officer Kea immediately entered the water and could hear a young child crying. It was later learned that she had been able to find inches of air between the seats and the water. Officer Kea entered the vehicle, took the girl to safety, and returned for her mother. Sadly, after extricating the child’s mother from the SUV, paramedics quickly determined the mother could not be revived. Police Sergeant Ben Suydam said, “Officer Kea’s immediate and decisive response upon locating the submerged vehicle ensured that the child’s extraordinary survival for over an hour after the mother succumbed to the rising water would not end tragically.”