FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Three Soldiers attached to a Fort Drum military police unit were singled out by their commander recently for achieving outstanding results during two separate emergencies.
Lt. Col. Carl Packer, 91st Military Police Battalion commander, said Spc. Brandy Moore, Spc. Sarah Lofgren and Spc. Joel Eugenides, all from the battalion's Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, exemplified the "very best of personal courage, selfless service and honor."
"I am very proud of these three Soldiers, who without pause reacted extremely well to life-threatening situations," Packer said.
Moore, a military policewoman, and Lofgren, a signal support systems specialist, were recognized as HHD's "Heroes of the Week" for their off-duty actions during an accident on a local highway last month; Eugenides, a military policeman, was commended as HHD's "Hero of the Week" for his response to a medical emergency at the Gas Alley Gate.
In the first incident, Moore and Lofgren were returning to post from the Salmon Run Mall in Watertown around 7:30 p.m. June 1 when a deer jumped into speeding traffic on Rt. 342 and was struck by a passing vehicle.
Lofgren, who was driving, said she swerved along with three other motorists ahead to avoid the wreckage. Once her vehicle cleared the debris, she pulled over and asked Moore to call 911 while she assessed the situation.
Lofgren said after the vehicle's windshield was impacted, the passenger-side door was jammed and had to be pried open.
"When I saw the passenger, she was covered in blood, and there were bits of glass all over her," Lofgren said. "I didn't know if it was human blood or animal blood."
She said the male driver, a former Fort Drum Soldier and the injured woman's boyfriend, was not hurt during the accident.
Meanwhile, the 911 dispatcher told Moore to ask the young woman questions about her breathing, bleeding and pain levels.
"She was in shock by the time I got over there," Moore said. "She seemed more frightened than anything else. She just couldn't believe that it had happened.
"We were looking to see if it was her nose that was bleeding, because there was a lot of blood," she added. "As we looked at it, it kind of looked more like the deer's blood than hers. But the deer hit her in the face, so it's possible that it broke her nose."
Moore said to avoid pressing on the shards of glass, she did not cover the victim's facial wounds with anything. She mitigated further blood loss by having the woman tilt her head back.
Lofgren then stayed with the woman in a secure area while Moore directed traffic around the scene. Paramedics arrived within 15 minutes. The victim was placed in a stretcher, but only as a precautionary measure, Moore said.
After Moore and Lofgren offered the driver a ride to the hospital, the couple expressed sincere gratitude for the Soldiers' actions.
"They really thanked us that night," Moore said. "They were very, very appreciative."
In the emergency that involved Eugenides, a female Soldier riding onto post with Staff Sgt. Paul Crouse, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, had a severe anaphylactic reaction as their vehicle approached the Gas Alley Gate the morning of June 1.
Eugenides said he was conducting vehicle spot-checks at the gate with his military working dog, Sgt. Laila, when he observed Crouse being waved over to him by the guard. Crouse told Eugenides that his passenger was experiencing respiratory distress after several bee stings to her arms and neck.
Eugenides also learned the victim did not have an epinephrine shot for treatment.
"I could see she wasn't looking too good," he recalled. "She seemed kind of out of it. She was taking real shallow breaths. She was starting to swell up, and she couldn't speak."
Eugenides, whose duties are normally limited to vehicle checks and building searches, instructed Crouse to follow his police vehicle to Guthrie Clinic. For the first time in his career, the specialist requested Code 3 priority from his supervisors so he could run red lights.
"By the time we got to Guthrie, she was doing really bad," he said. "She couldn't get out of the car or even stand on her own. We had to carry her into the clinic."
The victim received immediate medical attention and survived, Eugenides said. Two days later, Crouse approached the MP's supervisors to express his gratitude and praise for Eugenides' quick response.
Regarding the events of both emergencies, the battalion commander called his Soldiers "three shining examples" of Guardians answering their call to duty.
"(They) lived up to our unit motto of 'Honor Above All,'" Packer said. "They are the embodiment of the entire Guardian Team who sacrifices each and every day to keep our community and nation safe."
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