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Central Texas DPS troopers receive Lifesaving Award for reviving unconscious man

A total of four Belton and Waco troopers received awards for their efforts at the scene of a single-vehicle crash in I-35 on March 14.

TEXAS, USA — Four area Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were awarded Lifesaving Awards for their work at the scene of a crash earlier this year.

Troopers Jacob Buskohl, Stephen Jeter and Francisco Velez-Anderson with the Waco highway patrol and Trooper Madison Zaragoza with the Belton highway patrol each received an award for responding to a single-vehicle crash in I-35 on March 14.

Troopers Velez-Anderson and Jeter were the first to arrive on the scene and found two people performing CPR on an unresponsive man, according to a release. The troopers took over with Buskohl arriving soon after. The three took turns performing chest compressions.

Officers with the Lacy Lakeview Police Department arrived and assisted with CPR and provided scene security, and officers with Texas State Technical College provided an AED. Buskohl attached the AED and monitored the victim. Zaragoza arrived at the scene and assisted with CPR.

EMS arrived and continued the medical care, and the victim regained a pulse and was breathing on his own before being taken to the hospital, per the release. 

The troopers received the awards at a at Texas Public Safety Commission meeting at the DPS headquarters in Austin. Velez-Anderson and Zaragoza will be honored at a later date. 

Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw was there to award a total of seven Lifesaving Awards and one Purple Heart to department personnel. One Director's Award was also presented to a member of a partner agency at the meeting.

“I commend these individuals for their actions, which exemplify the devotion they show to their profession on a daily basis,” McCraw said in the release. “Public safety is a 24-hour-a-day job, and these individuals work tirelessly to better the state of Texas.”

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