Employee / Contract Employee of the Year

Top honors were given to three employees for saving the life of an inmate during Wednesday�s meeting of the Corrections Commission of Northwest Ohio.

Ron Kuckuck and Nate Miller shared the title of CCNO Employee of the Year while Lindsey Hug was named CCNO Contract Employee of the Year.

All three played an instrumental part in saving the life of an inmate on Nov. 13 by providing emergency medical procedures. It was on that date that an inmate went into a seizure. All three arrived at the scene at which time the inmate went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing.

Corrections Supervisor Ron Kuckuck started chest compressions. LPN Lindsey Hug called for the AMBU bag and the AED. Laundry Officer Nate Miller opened the air way and started ventilating the inmate with the AMBU bag and oxygen. LPN Hug hooked up the AED and administered three shocks to the inmate. The three-person team continued to provide life saving medical assistance until emergency personnel arrived at the scene.

Due to the team effort of all three -- along with their professionalism, excellence and knowledge -- they were successful at saving the life of the inmate who was revived and transported to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to a CCNO employee. All three stepped up and took charge of the situation, he said, keeping other inmates and staff calm during the critical and stressful situation.

The 45-year-old inmate from Wauseon was serving a sentence out of Napoleon Municipal Court for traffic violations when the medical emergency occurred. Upon recovering from his medical condition, he returned to CCNO to complete his sentence as required by the court.

During CPR training that is conducted at CCNO, in which all employees are required to complete, it is always stressed that the keys to making a situation successful are leadership, communication and team work. All three elements were shown during the Nov. 13 emergency that proved hard work and use of real life scenarios provided a successful outcome.

Jim Dennis, CCNO Executive Director, said �Training, drilling along with leadership and team work at the scene of a medical emergency are critical. Staff wants to be better first responders, they want to learn from experiences and they want to support each other. Offenders come to us with more and more chronic illnesses and acute medical conditions. Many forgo diagnosis, medications and treatments because they live on the streets, can�t afford health care or drugs/alcohol abuses are a driving force in their lives. It�s difficult to imagine the medical conditions of many offenders and we have to be ready for crises when they occur.�

Ron Kuckuck of Bryan has been employed at CCNO since Sept. 28, 1990. He was first employed as a Corrections Officer and then promoted on Aug. 16, 1992, as a Corrections Supervisor.

Nate Miller of Bryan has been employed at CCNO since Nov. 28, 1994. He was first employed as a Corrections Officer and then transferred to Laundry Specialist on Sept. 17, 2000. Nate is also a certified CPR instructor.

Lindsey Hug of Bryan is a contract employee through Corrections Medical Services. She has been employed with CMS since January 2001.

EMPLOYEE / CONTRACT EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR