Sapulpa’s Ascension St. John Hospital honored a Creek County Sheriff’s Deputy and an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer at a special session of their roundtable meeting on Thursday morning.
Creek County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Braswell and Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Devin Walbridge were two first responders who helped a teenager having a medical emergency aboard a school bus in October of 2023.
According to a statement from Ascension St. John, a call went out on October 12 about a non-responsive youth aboard a school bus on the Turner Turnpike. OHP trooper Walbridge responded to a call and upon his arrival found two coaches alternating with CPR compressions on a student.
Trooper Walbridge took over administering CPR until Deputy Braswell arrived at the scene. An ambulance was on the way, but they determined it would take too long to arrive, so they loaded the student into the backseat of Deputy Braswell’s patrol car and transported him to Ascension St. John Sapulpa, where “he received critical care and life-saving treatment, before his transfer to The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis.”
The teenager, named Caleb, along with his parents, were present at the ceremony as the officers were given their awards, and they took time before the beginning to thank the officers again for their quick thinking in saving their son’s life.
The “Call to Quarter” award is a quarterly award handed out by Ascension St. John to first responders who perform “extraordinary life-saving measures,” according to officials at the event. It’s the first time the award has been given at the Sapulpa hospital.