Jailers lend helping hand in Iowa

• To the rescue

Sergeant Adam Bohrer and Officer Clint Metz stand Thursday next to a Nobles County Sheriff’s Office transport vehicle.

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WORTHINGTON — Nobles County Jail Administrator Monette Berkevich was surprised earlier this month when she heard two of her jail staffers chatting about a nine-car pile up they had encountered during a transfer.

She knew they had seen the pile up, but hadn’t realized until overhearing the conversation that the two men had assisted at the scene.

A recent letter to Sergeant Adam Bohrer and Officer Clint Metz from Lieutenant Brad Pollard, District 4 Commander of the Iowa State Patrol spelled out the situation.

“I appreciate your help that particular day in assisting our State Troopers at a personal injury accident on Interstate 29,” the letter states. “The extra manpower you provided helped us out greatly, especially because of the dangerous weather conditions that we were experiencing that day.”

That day was Jan. 25 — Bohrer and Metz had left Worthington and were headed toward Omaha, Neb. to pick up a transport prisoner. What would normally be a 3 to 4 hour drive became something more as winds picked up and visibility went down to about 5 feet in front of the windshield of their transport van.

“We were about 20 miles out of Sioux City when we saw someone on the side of the road waving his arms,” Bohrer stated. “We pulled over to investigate and realized it was an Iowa State Trooper.”

According to Bohrer and Metz, the trooper, the only person on the scene, quickly explained about a nine-vehicle pile up about 50 feet ahead, and asked the men to check on the vehicle occupants while he tried to stop oncoming traffic. Leaving the trooper behind, both men headed toward the crash, one on one side of the road, one on the other.

“Everyone we checked on was OK for the most part,” Bohrer said. “But in one car there was a woman slumped over into the passenger seat.”

“There was stuff lying all over the car,” Metz added.

Bohrer has medical training in CPR, basic first aid and defibrillators, while Metz is a certified First Responder. Metz said the woman was unconscious and had a faint pulse, but the wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to tell how well she was breathing.

“We basically just tried to keep the snow off of her until the ambulance could come,” Metz said.

The men had run back to the trooper’s vehicle and grabbed blankets and a first aid kit. They contemplated moving her into a warmer vehicle, but moving her without a backboard and stabilizing equipment seemed risky, they said. The passenger side of the car was up against a snow bank, and they had barely managed to wrench open the driver’s door.

Using their medical training, they did what they could for the woman.

“With all the training we get at the jail, it was easy to assist with the situation and keep a level head,” Bohrer said.

The trooper who had stopped Bohrer and Metz didn’t realize they were correction officers, according to Berkevich.

“He thought they were deputies,” she explained.

The two men assisted where they could after ambulance personnel and a fire department showed up, then headed back to their transport van and got back on the road. A short time later they called Berkevich and told her how bad the roads were. She told them to stop somewhere and stay overnight.

“The conditions were so horrible,” Berkevich stated.

The trooper and the two correction officers had exchanged business cards, so Berkevich called the district later, after she found out what had happened.

“The trooper was very thankful they had stopped,” she said. “He said he turned around later to thank them and they were gone.”

According to the letter from Pollard, the trooper they had helped had his patrol car struck by oncoming vehicles three times while at the scene of the crash due to zero visibility.

“Fortunately, you were there to assist getting the injured party to the ambulance,” Pollard wrote. “Thank you so much. I sincerely appreciate your willingness to put your own life at risk in order to help others.”

That willingness to put their own lives on the line, Berkevich said, speaks to the caliber of people Bohrer and Metz are.

“We are very proud of them,” she stated, “I am impressed with their professionalism and their selfless service.”

Tags: nobles county sheriff's office, nobles county, news, worthington, crash, iowa, jailers