Gladwin detective honored for saving woman’s life

Tereasa Nimsfor the Daily News

Published

1:21 am EDT, Monday, May 13, 2019

Longtime Gladwin County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. James Cuddie was working an evening shift when he heard a call for help for an unconscious, possibly dead woman — he was closer than paramedics and he took the call.

On Dec. 13, Cuddie arrived to the scene to find an unconscious 63-year-old woman. After determining a possible drug overdose had taken place, he gave the woman Narcan, a drug used in emergency opioid overdoses, to revive the victim. Paramedics then arrived and took the woman to the hospital.

Gladwin County Sheriff Mike Shea recently awarded Cuddie with a Life Saving Award for his efforts in saving the woman’s life.

“This is a positive thing for front-line patrol officers,” Cuddie said of the drug. “The tragedy in society is that we have to carry it.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, drug overdose deaths continue to rise with an estimated 130 Americans dying daily. The CDC cites that more than 700,000 people have died from drug overdoses between 1999 and 2017. An estimated 68 percent of the 70,200 drug overdose deaths in 2017 involved an opioid. Also, in 2017, the overdoses involving opioids (both legal and illegal) was six times higher than in 1999.

“We’ve definitely seen a spike in drug overdose deaths,” Cuddie said. “We haven’t had quite as many recently.”

Unfortunately, Narcan can’t always save people, which he knows from experience with two other people he tried to save. Cuddie said there is an irony that officers also carry both a weapon to save and a firearm to injure.

Veteran Ed Watkins of Gladwin said he wouldn’t be alive if not for an officer that gave him Narcan two years ago. Watkins said he apparently took too much Fentanyl and was reportedly almost dead when help arrived. He woke up in a Bay City hospital, and notes he is now more careful in his use of the drug.

Cuddie said opioid addiction crosses all social and economic paths. He said rich, poor, educated, not educated.

“The addiction doesn’t discriminate,” Cuddie said.

Shea told county commissioners they are very fortunate to have Cuddie on board.

“He works three times as hard as what you pay him for,” Shea said, noting that Cuddie puts in long hours and does an “outstanding” job.

“He is a true asset to law enforcement,” Shea told the Daily News. “He is just a great quality detective.”