UPDATED Man rescued after jumping from bridge

POLSON — Polson police still have not identified the man who jumped from the Armed Forces Memorial Bridge on Wednesday afternoon.

Police Polson Department Chief Doug Chase did confirm on Thursday the man had survived and was transported to a hospital in Missoula.

His condition is unknown.

Law enforcement officials rescued the man from Flathead Lake on Wednesday afternoon after he jumped from the Polson Armed Forces Memorial Bridge.

Officers responded to the call around 4:45 p.m. Polson Police officer Chris Wright located the man in the water from the center of the bridge, Chase said.

Struggling to stay afloat, the man had his head under water, Chase said.

Three officers were forced to swim from the Riverside Park shore to retrieve the man, who did not respond to calls to swim back to shore.

Rescue workers pulled the man to shore from nearly 30 yards out on a rescue stretcher. He was given CPR before being loaded into an ambulance.

Chase, PPD sergeant Wade Nash and Tribal officer Orinso Walker were three of the rescuers in the water.

Tribal Law Enforcement, PPD, Lake County Sheriff Office officials, Polson Fire Department, Polson Ambulance and search and rescue members from the area and Tribal fish and game wardens responded.

Rescue boats were called, but not used.

Chase applaulded another "tremendous,coordinated effort" by the agencies that responded. 

Less than two weeks ago, PPD officer Wright helped coax a woman threatening to jump off the bridge down. PPD assistant chief John Stevens assisted in that rescue. 

Stevens said after the woman's jump that in his 21 years of service in Polson, this was the first time he’d experienced someone attempting to jump off the bridge to intentionally harm themselves. Stevens was one of the first on the scene and worked with Wright to get into position to grab the woman before she could jump.

The event on Jan. 19 included responses by the Polson Police Department, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Tribal Police, Polson Ambulance and the Polson Fire Department, which was notified to activate the fire department’s rescue boat. Polson police assistant Brian Kunz, one of the responders and responsible for blocking off the south end of the bridge, said all these Lake County organizations work well together.

The woman was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center, and the bridge was reopened to traffic.