Competent in Crisis: Justin Acosta

When disaster strikes and time is of the essence, each split-second decision can mean life or death for someone who needs immediate medical attention. Justin Acosta, case manager at Idaho Correctional Center (ICC), found himself in the midst of such an emergency at his facility earlier this year.

"I was walking to the sally port by Master Control when Captain Rainey grabbed hold of me and asked me to take medical outside," says Acosta. "He said that someone was having a heart attack and he needed me to render first aid."

The heart attack victim - a parole hearing officer – was in his car preparing to go home because he didn't feel well and was suffering from chest pains. Another parole hearing officer was already at the car and had called 911 when Acosta and the facility medical team arrived.

"We had a little trouble finding the car at first," says Acosta. "Then the parole officer began honking the horn so we knew where he was. We found him in his car in excruciating pain. We took him to the designated area and contacted Captain Rainey to make sure the paramedics had been called."

In the meantime, the medical staff gave the patient aspirin to chew and administered nitroglycerin. But another obstacle was soon to surface.

"The paramedics went to the wrong facility so the grounds crew officer was sent to the parking lot entrance to wave down the ambulance," says Acosta. But finally, the ambulance arrived and transported the patient safely to the hospital.

"I felt relieved and hopeful after the ambulance got there," says Acosta. But he took much more than a sense of relief away from the ordeal.

“That situation gave me additional faith in the team and the employees I work with,” he says. "The parole hearing officer has since come back out to the facility to do interviews."

Handling that emergency well was just one demonstration of Acosta’s character.

"Justin is highly dependable and loyal to the facility," says Phillip Valdez, warden at ICC. "I received an e-mail from the other parole hearing officer who was there that day; he commended Justin's quick thinking and actions - they helped save a life."

Having dealt with a handful of emergencies in the past, Acosta knows how to think on his feet when pressure hits. He has run emergency response teams to deal with both medical emergencies and fire alarms. "It's kind of a rarity," he says.

Although crises like those happen only so often, Acosta can remember the last time a facility staff member had to provide urgent medical aid. "We had a baby born at the facility," he says. "The facility psychiatrist had to help deliver the baby. That was the first situation where our medical staff has been involved with visitors; the heart attack incident was the second."

by DeAndra Mack

Sound Out

Linda Sevison at Idaho Correctional Center:

I am very proud to be a part of this facility, where we have an awesome team of co-workers. Justin demonstrates time and time again his abilities to be able to think and react quickly. It is a true pleasure to work with people of this caliber.

Counselor Skeem at ICC:

We are so proud of you! Way to be there an act quickly, sounds like the situation could have gone differently had you not been trained so efficiently. Good work!