SEQUIM — Three Sequim Police Department officers have been recognized for helping save a Mukilteo man’s life after he was hit by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 101.
Officers Devin McBride, Ella Mildon and Chris Moon each received 2024 Lifesaving Awards on Oct. 28 from deputy mayor Rachel Anderson and police chief Mike Hill at the Sequim City Council meeting.
The officers were first to respond to the scene following a 9-1-1 call for an assault on Highway 101 that later resulted in a hit-and-run incident.
“Their invaluable service is well deserved,” Hill said.
“When they showed up on the scene on Oct. 8, it was chaotic and violent, and that’s an understatement based on what we saw and what the investigation revealed.
“These three immediately went to work on the No. 1 priority, and that was saving someone’s life.”
Mildon arrived first about 11 p.m. to find a woman performing chest compressions on the man, identified by the Washington State Patrol Lawrence Scherer, 66.
Mildon checked Scherer’s pulse, started life-saving measures and later retrieved her vehicle’s automated external defibrillator (AED) as other officers and Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies continued chest compressions.
McBride used the AED on Scherer while Moon and others continued cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Sequim Police staff report officers and deputies continued life-saving measures for about seven minutes until Clallam County Fire District 3 could respond. Scherer later was transported by Life Flight Network for additional medical attention.
Scherer recovered following medical care, police report.
The officers also helped state troopers document the scene and support family members on the scene.
“(The three officers) played a huge part in keeping the victim alive until medics arrived on scene with advanced life support capabilities, (and their) actions are directly responsible for saving a person’s life,” the proclamation stated.
The State Patrol said the alleged assault and hit-and-run remain under investigation.
The unidentified truck driver who hit Scherer turned himself into the Clallam County courthouse and was connected with State Patrol investigators the next morning.
The altercation was recorded by an off-duty truck driver, the State Patrol said.
This is the second set of Lifesaving Awards that Sequim has given in the past month, following Officer Mark Poole in early October. Both McBride and Mildon have previously received the award.
McBride performed CPR on an unresponsive man in 2022, and Mildon, while on her first day on patrol in 2023, helped her field training officer Paul Dailidenas pull a person from a burning building who couldn’t escape under their own power, Hill said.
Hill also credited sergeant Maris Larsen for her efforts to help the officers remain safe while they helped perform CPR on the highway.
“Performing CPR for seven minutes is no small task,” Hill said.
“Them being on scene … definitely helped save this gentleman’s life.”
Hill thanked the Sequim-Dungeness Hospital Guild, which raised funds for the AED that was in Mildon’s vehicle. He said an incoming grant from the guild will ensure each police vehicle has an AED.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
