Bridge rescue second in weeks
PPD Sgt. Wade Nash walks from the water after helping rescue a man last week who jumped from the Armed Forces Memorial Bridge.
POLSON — Police rescued a 59-year-old man last Wednesday from the Flathead Lake after he intentionally jumped from the river side of the Armed Forces Memorial Bridge.
Polson Police Department Chief Doug Chase confirmed on Monday the man had survived the jump — “We’ve been told he’s on the mend,” he said. But Chase could not give more details of the man’s current condition. The man was transported to St. Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula sometime last week after being pulled from the 36-degree water.
Officals are not releasing the man’s name. He will not be charged with any offense, Chase said.
This was the second time in two weeks a person had to be rescued after an incident on the bridge.
Officers responded to this most recent call around 4:45 p.m. on Feb. 2. 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. Apparently confused, at one point he did call for help and began swimming upstream, Chase said. Worried about water in his lungs, three officers were forced to swim from the Riverside Park shore to retrieve the man after he did not respond to calls to swim to shore.
A passerby had called police after the man jumped.
Rescue workers pulled the man to shore from nearly 30 yards out on a rescue stretcher. The water around the bridge is dangerously low this time of year. Rescuers were able to stand and wade most of the way after entering the water to stop the man from floating downstream.
He was given CPR before being loaded into an ambulance.
“I realized he wasn’t breathing so I started CPR right away,” PPD assistant chief John Stevens said.
A pulse was established in the ambulance on the way to St. Joseph Medical Center. The man was later transported to Missoula.
Chase estimated transport of the man began less than 10 minutes after the call.
Chase, PPD Sgt. 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 applauded another “tremendous, coordinated effort” by the responding agencies.
Less than two weeks ago, Wright helped coax a woman threatening to jump off the bridge down. PPD assistant chief Stevens also 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. 26 included responses by the PPD, the LCSO, Tribal Police, Polson Ambulance and the PFD, which was notified to activate the fire department’s rescue boat.
The woman was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center, and the bridge was reopened to traffic.