Johnson County Jail employee recognized for lifesaving effort

IOWA CITY - A Johnson County Jail employee has been recognized for her efforts to save the life of an inmate earlier this year.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek announced last week that control center operator Kim Pearson has received the Lifesaving Award from the sheriff's office. Pearson helped save a female inmate who tried to kill herself in July.

'I feel that if it hadn't been for Kim's quick and appropriate action taken in the early morning hours of July 10, 2014, a jail death would have occurred,” Pulkrabek said in a news release.

Around 5:40 a.m. July 10, Pearson said she was collecting trays from breakfast and handing out court documents to inmates. As Pearson entered the E Block - which houses overnight cells for female inmates - she saw one of the inmates on a table with a blanket wrapped around her neck and the other end tied to a speaker.

'I saw her hanging there, and she was black and blue,” Pearson said.

Pearson acted quickly. After hitting a button that signaled an emergency in the cell block, Pearson tried to hoist the woman up to take the pressure off her neck. When that didn't work, Pearson climbed up on the table and lifted the woman up.

Eventually, deputies entered the cell and helped untie the blanket from the speaker. The woman was moved to the floor and care was administered until paramedics arrived. The woman was taken to the hospital.

Pearson said she hasn't seen or heard from the woman since.

'I'm just OK with nothing at this point,” Pearson said. 'At first, I was curious to see if she was OK.”

Pearson's superiors in the sheriff's office talked about awarding her efforts a few months ago, she said. But, between hirings, retirements and other things, it didn't happen right away. Pearson said she had forgotten about the recognition until she received the reward this month.

'I don't like recognition,” she said. 'It feels weird. I don't feel like I should be awarded for doing my job. That is my job. I'm there to keep deputies and the public that comes into the jail safe.”

But, she added, 'I'm grateful, and I appreciate the award.”

Pearson, who has worked in the jail since February 2013 and previously served as a reserve deputy, would like to continue with a career in law enforcement.

She is 'just a great young person,” Pulkrabek said. He described her as 'an unbelievably nice person (and) a great team player.”

'She's just one of those employees everyone would want to have,” Pulkrabek said.

Suicide attempts in the jail happen occasionally, Pulkrabek said, and jailers get training on suicide prevention. But Pulkrabek said they can't train for every situation.

'This was a case of being somewhere at the right time and having the right person to go in and help,” he said.

Pulkrabek said this is just the fourth Lifesaving Award he's given out in his nearly 10 years as sheriff.