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Law Enforcement Officers Issued Life Saving Equipment continued from page 20
On the early morning hours of Tuesday May 28th, 2013, at approxi-
mately 0739 hours, Captain Mark Evans of the Kill Devil Hills
Police Department was on his way to work when he heard patrol officers
dispatched to a possible unconscious male inside a home under construction.
Evans responded to the call to see if he could assist. What he thought was
going to be an intoxicated subject passed out at the construction site ended
up being a 58 year-old man who had just suffered a massive heart attack.
Evans arrived on scene within two minutes of the call being dispatched
and rushed over to the man lying underneath a forklift. Evans did a quick as-
sessment of the patient and determined that the job site foreman, Mr. Dewey
Parr, was in cardiac arrest. This is where the story takes an interesting twist.
In addition to his years in police work, Evans had also been an EMT for the
past 20 years. Having used AED’s in the past he understood the value of
these life-saving devices, and he had been pushing his agency to purchase
AED’s for all of the patrol cars. With budget
cuts trimming back everything from train-
ing to career development; it was difficult to
justify expenditures for the units. However, in
February of this year, Kill Devil Hills Chief
Gary Britt agreed to purchase two refurbished
Lifepak 500 AED’s and one of those happened
to be in Captain Evans’ vehicle the day Mr.
Parr suffered a heart attack.
Gathering information from bystand-
ers, Evans determined that Parr had been
unresponsive and not breathing for about five
minutes. Evans said, “One look at him and I
immediately knew he was in serious trouble.”
Evans grabbed his newly purchased
AED, attached the pads to the victim’s chest
and turned on the unit. The AED cycled
through its automatic analysis and promoted
him to shock the victim and begin chest com-
pressions. It would take the Kill Devil Hills
Fire and Rescue some five minutes to arrive
on scene, and in that time Evans had shocked
the victim two additional times at which point
Parr began to breathe on his own.
Dare County EMS arrived and provided
advanced medical care and transported Parr
to the Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head
where he was stable enough to be airlifted to
Norfolk General Hospital. According to the
medical staff at the Emergency Room, it was
the early defibrillation and chest compressions
that saved Dewey Parr’s life.
Evans said, “Being in the right place at
the right time with the right piece of equip-
ment was lucky. If another car without an AED
had been closer, who knows what the outcome
would have been. That’s why I’ve always pushed
for AED’s in the police vehicle; so that part of it
isn’t just luck of the draw for the next victim.”
Parr remained hospitalized for six days
and was released without having any long-
term mental impairment. Parr later said he
didn’t remember anything from the moment
he went down to nearly a week later when he
woke up in the hospital. His recovery after the
heart attack was so swift that he was back on
the job in less than two weeks.
Shortly after this incident, Parr’s em-
ployer, SAGA Construction of Kill Devil Hills
invited Chief Britt and Captain Evans to a re-
ception honoring Evans and the Town of Kill
Devil Hills for saving their employee’s life. It
was at this meeting that SAGA evolved the
idea of starting a community-wide initiative
to raise money from area businesses to outfit
all the patrol division cruisers with AED’s.
On July 30, 2013, SAGA Construc-
tion hosted a breakfast for local contributors
to their SAGA community fundraiser. They
announced that not only had they reached
their goal of supplying AED’s for all the pa-
trol cruisers in Kill Devil Hills, but they were
now expanding their initiative to outfit all law
enforcement vehicles on the Outer Banks.
Evans said, “I was thrilled to hear that
SAGA was not just outfitting our cruisers,
but all law enforcement first responders in the
county. The more AED’s that are placed in
the hands of law enforcement, the greater the
chances that we can save the life of a person
suffering from sudden cardiac arrest”.
About the Author: Captain Mark K. Evans began his
career in law enforcement as a Police Dispatcher with the
Ahoskie North Carolina Police Department in 1990. In
1993 he attended the basic law enforcement training acad-
emy and began working as a Patrolman until he moved to
the Kill Devil Hills North Carolina Police Department in
February of 1996. Captain Evans has been with Kill Devil
Hills Police Department for nearly eighteen (18) years and
has held the ranks of Police Officer I & II, Master Police
Officer, Corporal, Sergeant, Lieutenant and currently
Captain, since 2009.
Captain Evans oversees the Criminal Investigation Divi-
sion and serves as the agencies Internal Affairs investigator.
He is a specialized firearms instructor through the State of
North Carolina Education & Training Standards Com-
mission and been a certified EMT since 1990. He holds
instructor credentials for first-aid, CPR and AED through
the American Heart Association.
Captain Evans’ education consists of an A.A.S. in Criminal
Justice Technology from Roanoke Chowan Community
College, an A.S. in General Studies from Mount Olive
College, a B.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from
Mount Olive College and a M.A. in Criminal Justice from
American Military University. He is a graduate of the
North Carolina Justice Academy’s Management Develop-
ment Program Class #21 and the FBI National Academy
Session 247.
Captain Evans has been married to his wife Lisa for
seventeen years and they have two children, Haley (14)
and Colby (10).
With more than 450,000 people dying each year
from sudden cardiac arrest, the importance of
getting Automated External Defibrillator’s (AED’s)
in the hands of Police Officers – who are often the
first to arrive on the scene of a medical emergency
– cannot be over stated. This was clearly the case for
the Kill Devil Hills Police Department located on the
Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Law Enforcement
Officers Issued
Lifesaving
Equipment
Mark K. Evans
J A N 2 0 1 4 F E B