Off-duty Pasco officer aids Tri-Citian after heart attack

A Pasco police officer was commended by city officials after he recently went to the aid of another Tri-Citian suffering from a heart attack at Portland International Airport.

Judy West, a staff member for retired Republican Congressman Doc Hastings, was struggling with her luggage as she rushed to catch a plane at the airport, she said in a message to Chief Bob Metzger. She managed to board but she was having difficulty breathing, which she thought was from an asthma attack.

“Officer Cobb saw my distress and jumped into the seat next to me,” West wrote. “He told me who he was and called for oxygen.”

The incident reportedly led to the flight being delayed, but West said Cobb stayed by her side, telling flight attendants to call paramedics who came and took her to a hospital where testing revealed she’d had a heart attack. She reportedly remained in Portland for a few extra days until she was cleared to travel.

“At the least, he got me breathing again. At the most, I owe him my life,” West wrote, saying she would put a blue light in a window of her home to recognize Cobb’s service.

Metzger said Cobb “is a great example of the caliber of officers at the Pasco Police Department” in his response to West’s note. Zabell passed a memo about the incident on to the mayor and city council, and encouraged them to thank Cobb should they encounter him, saying his actions “serve to demonstrate that duty for many in the public sector often extends beyond normal work hours and political boundaries.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Off-duty Pasco officer aids Tri-Citian after heart attack."