ALBANY, N.Y. — Two University at Albany (SUNY Albany) police officers were recognized this month for saving the life of a woman after she suffered a heart attack.
On Dec. 18, 2020, 26-year-old Sara Buckley collapsed while out on a run. The University Police Department received a call at 6:42 a.m. about a female down on the roadway. Officer Alex Jobson and Lieutenant Kevin Krosky were just starting their shifts and responded to the area. Jobson arrived first and was able to determine Buckley was in cardiac arrest, reports News 10.
“I found the female, laying down partially on the sidewalk and partially on a snowbank,” recalled Jobson. He first thought she may have passed out but was unable to find a pulse on her wrist or her carotid artery.
“I arrived and was grabbing a blanket from my car when Officer Jobson advised me that he believed she was in cardiac arrest,” said Krosky.
Krosky then grabbed an automated external defibrillator (AED). The pair performed CPR for several minutes and delivered two shocks from the AED, according to the school. The officers were able to feel a faint pulse before EMS arrived.
Buckley, a former cross country and track competitor who ran nearly every morning for several years on the SUNY Albany campus, was placed in a medically-induced coma for two days but has since made a full recovery.
“Where I fell was the least isolated spot of my entire run, and it was the first time I wore a vest with a crisscross string of lights. After three feet of snow the day before, I might have never been noticed,” she said. “It’s amazing how quickly they could respond, and do so so selflessly.”
Buckley also recalled another incident a few months prior where a SUNY Albany police officer drove her home after she got caught in a bad thunderstorm.
Jobson and Krosky earned SUNY Police Life Saving Awards in a Nov. 16 ceremony in Saratoga Springs.
