WLPD Officer Assists Dazed Seizure Victim

Press release date: 2008-01-27
Dazed seizure victim found under bridge by alert officer, after victim calls 9-1-1. On Sunday evening, January 27, 2008 at 5:34 p.m. the West Linn Police department received a cell phone call from a seizure patient who had fallen, was under a bridge, and unable to move. The caller was able to tell the dispatcher at LOCOM he had been on a walk earlier in the day and had a seizure. When he woke, he found himself near the water and a bridge. WLPD Officers began to search area parks near the water. West Linn has several parks near water with bridges close by.

Officer Dave Heimbuck went to Willamette Park and began searching for the man. Officer Heimbuck began to sound his air horn in the police car, and the patient was able to relay through LOCOM that he could hear it. Officer Heimbuck then narrowed his search finding the person under the Tualatin River Bridge at 5:41 p.m. He was lying face up on the rocks and complained of injuries consistent with a fall on a rocky path. He was unable to move. Officer Heimbuck called for additional rescue resources and was assisted by Officer Taylor Neil and Sgt. Kirk Tonkin who stayed with the man until AMR Ambulance responded. When the TVF&R engine arrived, they assisted by establishing a rope line system to guide the liter being carried by the officers, firefighters and AMR personnel. Officer Dave Heimbuck The victim, Nathan STEWART, 24 years old, who lives on Pete’s Mountain Road, was transported to Meridian Park Hospital by AMR with non-life threatening injuries.

“I am very proud of Officer Heimbuck for his quick and innovative thinking that helped get the necessary help to a citizen in dire need” said West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus. “Had we not found him in a timely manner, his condition could have worsened due to the cold weather we are experiencing.”