EKLRIDGE, Md. — It was August 7th, when a 911 call for a pair of overdose victims reached Tabatha Kanagie and Ian Smith as they patrolled the Rockburn Branch Park in Elkridge together as part of their regular duties.
They found two men, believed to be in their fifties, who weren’t breathing and had no pulse.
“I’m opening my Narcan kit and my hands are definitely shaking as I’m doing it, but that’s to be expected,” recalled Kanagie.
“All that I could think about was, ‘I need to do the best I can for this man. Give him the best opportunity to recover from this,” added Smith.
The rangers administered Narcan and were able to get a pulse and to continue CPR until paramedics arrived.
Both of them had been on the job protecting, preserving and patrolling the county’s parks for less than a year.
“The department takes safety seriously, and both rangers have completed over 640 hours of training and they’re continuing to take more,” said Recreation & Parks Director Raul Delerme. “Tabatha and Ian, thank you for your heroic efforts and you are truly and asset to the department and the citizens of Howard County.”
While both received a plaque from the county, the young rangers have come away from the experience with something far more valuable.
“Feeling his pulse start again in my hands and seeing his eyes open up---it’s completely indescribable,” said Smith, “I can’t articulate what that is like to see.”
“It’s one thing to know that your everyday actions are making an impact on somebody’s life,” added Kanagie. “but it’s another to that this one thing you did definitively saved a life.”
