MADISON TOWNSHIP — David Kirst usually works late nights as a truck driver for Shelly Smith’s Towing.
But Wednesday, Sept. 6 was different than any other night he’s worked. Kirst saw a man lying on the ground of the Shell gas station at 899 Ashland Road and crossed the street to see what was happening.
“I immediately went over there, checked his pulse and he wasn’t breathing,” Kirst said. “It looked like an overdose because I’ve seen those before.
“I started doing CPR until the sheriff’s office responded a few minutes later.”
The Richland County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call around 8:30 p.m. that Wednesday with help from emergency medical services.
According to the Richland County Sheriff’s Office incident report, four responding officers administered two 4 mg doses of Narcan to the man who wasn’t breathing.
EMS responders later administered a 2 mg dose of Narcan. The RCSO incident report said the 36-year-old man told officers he took a pill prescribed by his doctor. The prosecutor’s office is investigating a pending charge of possession of drugs.
Kirst said he saw the man to whom he administered CPR talking in the ambulance before he left the scene.
‘He didn’t hesitate to jump into action’
Kirst’s girlfriend Angel Singleton was in the truck with Kirst when they were across the street at Pronto Pizza Café Pronto.
“We were actually having a conversation and he jumped out of the car and I couldn’t tell where he was going,” Singleton said. “I didn’t see the man across the street because he was blocked by a car.”
Singleton said four or five people were in the gas station lot and one person had called 911.
“The woman who was there with him was begging this guy not to die,” Singleton said. “We weren’t sure if any fentanyl was involved or not, so I’m really impressed with Dave because he didn’t hesitate to jump into action.”
Kirst said he has never administered CPR since learning how to do it in high school. He said he was able to resuscitate the man twice before the RSCO arrived.
“When a time like that comes, you don’t know if you’re going to freeze up or how you’re going to respond,” Kirst said. “But the best I can explain what happened was I was just super focused on trying to get this guy breathing.
“I don’t know if I’m going to see something like that again, so now I’m going to get Narcan to carry on my person to try to help save a life.”
Anyone living in Ohio can receive free overdose response education through Project DAWN.
Richland Public Health provides free Narcan kits to residents who watch a 15-minute training video and complete a short quiz.
