US officials awarded for saving life of Indian-American scribe

Three US officials, including two secret service agents, have been awarded for saving the life of an Indian-American journalist early this year, who suffered a massive heart attack while covering a presidential event inside the White House. The two Secret Service Officers – Daniel Martz and Fernandez Blackshear – and Coast Guard Health Services Technician Jonathan Edwards, were presented with the prestigious “Life Saving Award” by the Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson, at a ceremony last week.

“It’s a new life to me. I am grateful to these Secret Service officials and the White House who saved my life,” S S Manku, a correspondent with T V Asia, the largest South Asian channel in the United States, told PTI. While on an assignment to cover a science event in the East Room of the White House in March this year, Manku collapsed on the floor.

Both Martz and Blackshear along with Edwards responded to a request for medical assistance, where Manku was unconscious and unresponsive. Upon determining Manku did not have a pulse, Blackshear started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and requested the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), while Martz requested the White House Medical Unit (WHMU) and ambulance.

Arriving with the WHMU and working as a member of the response team, Edwards established and maintained Manku’s airway. During this time, a second shock was delivered by the AED and a faint pulse was detected. Manku was transported to the hospital where he later made a full recovery. All his medical bill have been taken care of by the White House.

“There is no way, that I would have been alive had this heart attack had occurred to me outside the White House,” said Manku who along with his family members were invited by Secretary Johnson to attend the awards ceremony.

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