Police officers presented challenge coins for life-saving actions

PRINCETON — If it hadn’t been the quick act of two local police officers and two OSF Life Flight nurses, a young Buda man most likely would have lost his life in an accident that occurred near Walnut in the early morning hours of July 5.

Those police officers and Life Flight nurses were recognized for their valiant efforts on Wednesday, Aug. 26, outside Perry Memorial Hospital. It was there they also got to meet the young man whose life they saved, Kale Barnett, 19, who was present with his family.

OSF Life Flight Medical Director Brandon Bleess honored the Prince­ton Police Officer Ryan Jennings and Bureau County Sheriff’s Deputy Randy Dean with challenge coins, which symbolize gratitude and outstanding service. The coins are given to crews who go above and beyond.

On July 5, rescue units were called to the scene of an accident where the vehicle was on fire and a person, Barnett, was trapped inside. The fire was put out quickly, however prolonged extrication was required and crews feared Barnett was in danger of bleeding out.

Life Flight nurses Jo Jursich and Kendra Arjes quickly made phone calls to Perry Memorial Hospital’s emergency department and ED nurse Stephanie Woolley was able to coordinate getting blood from the blood bank, which Jennifer Wilkes, OSF outreach coordinator, said is not an easy task to do.

Once the blood was ready, Jennings responded to the hospital, picked up the units of blood and drove quickly to meet Dean who responded to the scene of the accident with the needed blood.

Wilkes said while it’s common belief that working in big hospitals is really important, it’s the smaller hospitals who do a lot of important work that doesn’t get recognized enough.

“It’s a great pleasure to be able to work with you guys and we appreciate you for it,” she said on Wednesday.

The accident occurred near the home of Jan Pistole, Perry’s cardiac rehab nurse, who was present at Wednesday’s recognition ceremony as she was one of the first people to be on scene. She said she’s been in EMS for almost 35 years and said everything fell into place during those early morning hours of July 5.

“To watch the way everything was instrumented, everything went exactly as it should,” she said. “Every single person who was involved was just spot on.”