'TRULY A BLESSING'
28-year-old in law enforcement training saved by people around him after medical emergency
Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman, back to camera, presents awards to officers who helped save a recruit's life during a Burke County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Austin Robinson, center (green shirt), and his wife, Paisley, help honor the men who helped him during a recent Burke County Board of Commissioners meeting. The men, who flank Robinson, are, from left, north Carolina state Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Phillips, Morganton department of Public safety Officer Justin Walker, WPCC Basic Law enforcement Training director Bryan Christy and Burke County sheriff's deputy John McKinney. sheriff Banks Hinceman, standing beside McKinney, presented the men with the Public safety award for their lifesaving efforts.
The Bright Side
Austin Robinson decided to transition from a detention officer to a deputy. That decision may have saved his life.
Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman said Robinson was a detention officer in the county jail but wanted to go to Basic Law Enforcement Training. BLET is necessary to become a law enforcement officer.
Robinson went to BLET at Western Piedmont Community College, Hinceman said at a recent Burke County Board of Commissioners meeting.
On May 6, Hinceman got a call. His officer in basic law enforcement training had had a medical issue and was transported to the hospital.
At around 7 p.m. that day, the class was doing a live subject evaluation by conducting field sobriety testing at Western Piedmont Community College. The college's Basic Law Enforcement Training Director, Bryan Christy, heard a loud crash in the hallway and saw Robinson lying on the floor beside the water fountain. Christy, along with Burke County Sheriff's Deputy John McKinney and Morganton Department of Public Safety Officer Justin Walker, immediately responded, Hinceman said.
Robinson appeared to be suffering seizures and had a cut above his left eye. McKinney assessed Robinson while Walker controlled the bleeding using supplies retrieved by Christy, Hinceman said. Robinson's condition quickly worened as he became unresponsive and stopped breathing normally.
Hinceman said Christy directed staff to get the AED, call 911 and notify security. McKinney began CPR while Christy and Walker prepared and applied the AED pads. The AED identified a shockable rhythm, and one shock was delivered. CPR ventilations and AED monitoring continued for several cycles until EMS arrived, Hinceman said.
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"Director Christy, McKinney, Trooper (Ben) Phillips and PSO Walker acted quickly, professionally, and without hesitation to provide lifesaving medical care to Deputy Robinson," Hinceman said. "The decisive and coordinated actions of Director Christy, Deputy McKinney, Trooper Ben Phillips, PSO Walker were instrumental in sustaining Deputy Robinson's life until advanced medical personnel arrived."
Before becoming director of BLET, Christy retired from the Morganton Department of Public Safety as a captain and had previously been a paramedic, Hinceman said in an interview. McKinney, in addition to being a deputy, has been with the rescue squad for a long time, Hinceman said.
Hinceman went to the hospital that Saturday to see Robinson, 28, who was on a ventilator. His wife, Paisley, who is expecting their child, was in the room with her husband, Hinceman said. Later that week, Hinceman visited the hospital again and Robinson had just come back from walking down the hallway.
"For that to happen, that is truly a blessing, and to be able to celebrate that today is truly a blessing," Hinceman said. Robinson, accompanied by his wife and child, was at the commissioners' meeting to help honor the men who kept him alive.
Before calling on the audience to give the men a round of applause, Commissioner Chairman Jeff Brittain said, "And once again, another great example of our guys and gals who are always on the ready at any time, any moment."
Hinceman said if it was going to happen to Robinson, that was the right place for it to happen, around people who knew what to do quickly.
"For all that to line up right there, for that to happen right then, the Lord's got something else for him to do," Hinceman said.
Hinceman said if Robinson is medically cleared, he will be able to finish training with the next BLET class.
At the commissioners meeting, Hinceman honored the officers who helped save Robinson's life. Those officers are Western Piedmont Community College Basic Law Enforcement Training Director Bryan Christy, Burke County Sheriff's Deputy John McKinney, North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Phillips and Morganton Department of Public Safety Officer Justin Walker. Hinceman presented them with the Public Safety Award for their lifesaving efforts.
