Southwest Florida Chapter Executive Megarie D. van Sickle (center) presents the Red Cross Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action to recipient Willie Acosta (left) and Venice Police Chief Tom Mattmuller (right).
VENICE, Fla. – November 6, 2018 – Earlier this year, Venice Police Department Parking Enforcement Officers Jose Luna and Willie Acosta called on their prior emergency health and safety training to save the life of a Venice man who collapsed after playing golf. For this heroic and lifesaving action, Luna and Acosta received the American Red Cross Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action in a ceremony at the Red Cross Southwest Florida Chapter office in Sarasota on November 6.
The Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action is given to individuals who step up in an emergency situation and help save (or sustain) a life. These individuals exemplify the mission of the Red Cross to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies.
“It was my pleasure to present the Certificate to these two very deserving individuals,” said Megarie D. van Sickel, Executive Director of the Southwest Florida Red Cross Chapter. “We encourage everyone to get trained to have the confidence, knowledge and skills to help if called upon to take ‘extraordinary action’ in order to help save someone’s life.”
Luna and Acosta noticed the man in distress while administering parking tickets at the Lake Venice Golf Club. The victim had crashed his golf cart before falling to the ground. Instinctively recognizing that the man was suffering from cardiac arrest, Luna and Acosta administered CPR using an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). Paramedics arrived at the scene and transported the victim to a nearby hospital.
Red Cross training gives people the knowledge and skills to act in an emergency and save a life. A variety of online, blended (online and in-person skills session) and classroom courses are available at redcross.org/takeaclass. The Red Cross welcomes nominations for award recipients at LifesavingAwards.org.
For more than 100 years, the Red Cross has been developing and offering training courses from First Aid to Water Safety in hopes that there are always trained individuals nearby, ready to use their Red Cross skills during an emergency.
The Southwest Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross serves Sarasota, Manatee, Hardee, De Soto and Charlotte Counties with offices in Sarasota (main) and Port Charlotte. The Executive Director of the Chapter is Megarie D. van Sickel who joined the Red Cross in 1999. The Southwest Chapter is one of five chapters that comprise the Central Florida Region of the American Red Cross. For more information, visit www.redcross.org/centralflorida.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.