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Five law enforcement officials from Dillon, Silverthorne receive awards for life-saving efforts

On Tuesday, May 3, the American Police Hall of Fame awarded Life Saving Awards to local law enforcement officials from Dillon and Silverthorne police departments. Pictured are Rachel Weiner, left to right, Jared Dennis, Justin Tarpley, Ryan Rice and Craig Johnson.
Luke Vidic/Summit Daily News

American Police Hall of Fame honored five law enforcement officials from Dillon and Silverthorne with Life Saving Awards at a Dillon Town Council meeting Tuesday, May 6.

Of those honored, Sgt. Craig Johnson, Detective Ryan Rice, officer Rachel Weiner and Detective Jared Dennis received plaques for the life-saving efforts while working for the Dillon Police Department. Silverthorne Police Department officer Justin Tarpley was also awarded for his service.

“Many of us know people that have worked their entire career and never received an award like this,” Dillon Police Chief Cale Osborn said while addressing a room full of uniformed officers, their friends and family. “There’re very few awards in our line of work that rise to this level.”



Dillon officer Rachel Weiner, left to right, Dillon Detective Jared Dennis and Silverthorne officer Justin Tarpley stand with their life-saving awards on May 3. They helped save a Dillon resident with a cut that severed an artery in his leg on Jan. 8, 2021.
Luke Vidic/Summit Daily News

On Jan. 8, 2021, Weiner, Dennis and Tarpley responded to a call about a person with a severe cut to their leg. The individual reportedly suffered a cut to their femoral artery. Without quick action, the victim would have died, trauma surgeon Charlie Mains said.

At the scene, Tarpley and Dennis applied a tourniquet while Weiner managed another person at the residence. The injured person was transported to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center before Flight for Life delivered them to Colorado Trauma Services in Wheat Ridge.



“What these officers did was think quickly under stress, make good decisions, act decisively and save the life and got him to us in time to be able to fix the torn femoral artery, femoral vein and nerve and put this man back together and give us a chance to save his life,” Mains said at the meeting. “I’m proud to be associated with you.”

While speaking to one another on the phone, St. Anthony Trauma and EMS Coordinator T.R. Resignolo recalled that Mains told him, “I just finished working on that guy for like 12 hours,” after saving the victim’s life.

Pictured alongside Dillon Police Chief Cale Osborn (right), Dillon Detective Ryan Rice and Sergeant Craig Johnson performed critical first aid on a man on July 20, 2020. The man had suffered a heart attack and was unconcious and not breathing.
Luke Vidic/Summit Daily News

On July 20, 2020, Johnson and Rice jumped into action and resuscitated a man suffering from a heart attack on U.S. Highway 6 .

At the July scene, Johnson and Rice performed CPR and shocked the man twice with an automated external defibrillator until he regained consciousness.

“It was later described by the EMS supervisor that Johnson and Rice’s actions undoubtedly saved the males life,” Osborn wrote in a letter.

“It was awesome to be seen by the community like that,” Weiner said as she reflected on the brief award ceremony. The whole experience, she said, including witnessing community members become choked up, made her feel honored.

But beyond that, she said, “I felt honored to be given the opportunity to serve my community.”

“Thank you all — all of you — for everything you do every day for Dillon and Silverthorne and our community as a whole,” Skowyra said. “We wouldn’t be the community we are without all of you and your leadership.”

Osborn said his department held off on presenting the awards until friends and family could meet in person.

The American Police Hall of Fame issues the award in honor of officers’ life-saving efforts across the county. The organization is based in Florida and takes submissions to consider future awards.

Visit APHF.org for more information.

 


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