By Amy Eddings
With his wife and children looking on, Ada’s newest police officer, John Iten, was honored at the regular Ada village council meeting for saving the life of an Ada woman last month.
Police Chief Mike Harnishfeger presented Officer Iten with a red-and-white-ribboned medal in a crushed velvet blue box.
“I don’t feel like I deserve this, I did my job,” said Iten. “It was a team effort. It was the dispatchers, it was EMS, it wasn’t just me. I'm very honored.”
Iten joined the Ada police force in May.
On Oct. 3, at 3:19 a.m., Officer Iten was called to the Ada home of 34-year-old Jessica Alford. Her boyfriend had called 9-1-1 after finding Alford unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse.
After determining Alford’s Officer Iten performed one-person CPR and shocked Alford three times with an automatic external defibrillator. His actions re-established her pulse and got her breathing again.
“After spending several days in the hospital, Jessica was released, and, thanks to your efforts, has recovered from this event,” said Chief Harnishfeger. "Your calm actions under very stressful conditions are to be commended and I am positive that these sentiments are shared by jessica, her children, and her entire family."
Harnishfeger said Alford was unable to attend the event.
“Really, the thing that hit me was, while I was working on her, I looked up and saw her daughter, and the look in her eye….Her world was crumbling,” remembered Iten. He said he turned his feelings off, as he’s been trained to do, and concentrated on his tasks.
He said he’s resuscitated people before, “but I’ve never been able to bring anybody back."
The council’s small, second-floor hearing room was packed with Iten’s family and friends, including wife Lori, 51; daughter Ashlyn Tracy, 24, grandson Pierce Tracy, 9; twin sons Joshua and Jacob, 18; Jacob’s girlfriend, Ally Hogan of Lima, 15; and daughter Shyanne, 13.
PHOTO:
Ada Police Officer John Iten holds his Ada Police Department Lifesaving Award, surrounded by his family at Ada Municipal Building. From left, son Jacob, 18; daughter Shyanne, 13; wife Lori, 51; Officer Iten; son Joshua, 18; daughter Ashlyn Tracy, 24. Standing, back row: Ally Hogan, 15, of Lima; grandson Pierce Tracy, 9. Photo, Amy Eddings.
