Canton Officers, Good Samaritans Help Save Man's Life

CANTON, GA — Three Canton police officers and two residents were able to save the life of a man who was found unresponsive over the weekend on Interstate 575. Officers responded around 12:11 p.m. Saturday, March 10 to a call of a person down on the northbound exit ramp to S.R. 140/Hickory Flat Highway.

Three units arrived to find Austin Gelder, 38, with no pulse and not breathing, Canton police said. The caller told officers she was giving Gelder a ride to the hospital "because he was feeling very ill." Another motorist pulled over and gave CPR to Gelder before officers made it to the scene.

Canton police Corporal Jose Souto and officers Kyle Harahus and Daniel Mendoza arrived at the location, and took over life-saving efforts that included CPR, administering breaths from a manual respirator and using an assigned Automated External Defibrillator (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here).

The officers worked for several minutes, as they coordinated chest compressions, used the respirator and administered three shocks to the patient’s heart from the AED. Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services personnel arrived and continued life-saving efforts before transporting Gelder to Northside Hospital Cherokee. Canton officers have since learned that Gelder is recovering and in stable condition due to their efforts.

"Our officers and these kind Samaritans were extremely calm, caring and worked as a team, which directly resulted in saving a human life," Police Chief Mark Mitchell said. "We are extremely grateful that Mr. Gelder is on his way to recovery. As proven before, the diligent mindset, attitude and heart set of our officers, partnership with our citizens and the addition of the AED devices to our fleet strengthens our abilities to protect, serve and improve the quality of life for our community.”

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The agency is hoping the Good Samaritans and Gelder (or members of his family) will be able to attend the April 5 City Council meeting where Chief Mitchell will present the department’s Life-Saving Award to the officers and residents.

The department is also working to identify the woman who stopped and performed CPR, as she quickly left the scene before officers got her information.

Anyone who knows the woman is asked to contact Canton police on its Facebook page or by calling 770-720-4883. You can also let the resident know that she can reach out to the police via social media or by calling the main number.

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