She was high on meth and not breathing. This Atwater cop took fast action

An Atwater police officer is being praised as “a hero” for his efforts late last month that may have saved the life of a 46-year-old woman who’d stopped breathing after smoking methamphetamine.

Officer Evan Pitney was patrolling late June 28 in the area of Winton Way and Drakeley Avenue when he was flagged down by a 48-year-old man. Pitney was told the man’s wife had stopped breathing, Atwater police said.

Pitney requested an ambulance and then found the woman on her kitchen floor at her nearby home. She had “no pulse and her pupils were rolled back into her head,” Chief Samuel Joseph said. “Officer Pitney started CPR and was able to get (her) to regain a pulse and breathing.”

The man admitted he and his wife had smoked methamphetamine about 45 minutes before she stopped breathing. The woman was transported to Mercy Medical Center in Merced and is expected to recover.

Joseph praised Pitney’s fast work, saying there’s “no doubt” the officer saved the woman’s life.

This story was originally published July 10, 2017 at 11:15 AM with the headline "She was high on meth and not breathing. This Atwater cop took fast action."