When a young boy was unable to breathe after being pulled from a city pool, Joshua Bushman didn’t hesitate to put his CPR training to use to save a life. And for that, Montana Red Cross honored the Wolf Point lifeguard with a Red Cross Lifesaving Award during its Board of Directors meeting in February.
Josh was lifeguarding at the city pool on a busy June day when a young boy named Jonathon suddenly sank to the bottom. Another lifeguard helped remove the boy from the water, and that’s when Josh and his training took over.
Jonathon was blue, unconscious and wasn’t breathing, and Josh immediately began administering CPR, continuing until the boy could breathe on his own. Soon after, an ambulance took Jonathon to the hospital, and he was released later that day.
Josh’s boss at the pool, Dan Horsmon, nominated the fourth-year lifeguard for the Red Cross award.
“Josh is a super nice hardworking kid who shows up anytime you need him,” Dan said.
Josh has earned his CPR certification twice and remained cool and calm under pressure.
“I’ve never been through a situation like that,” he told his hometown newspaper. “I was just really glad I was there.”
Montana Red Cross of Montana presented Josh with a Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders, one of the highest awards given by the American Red Cross to someone who saves a life by using skills and knowledge learned in a Red Cross Training Services course. The American Red Cross has a long history of presenting these lifesaving awards, dating back to 1911. Since the program was reintroduced in 2018, Red Cross has handed out more than 2,100 of these awards across the country, including three in Montana. Together these winners have saved more than 1,000 lives.
Besides Josh and his family, Wolf Point Mayor Chris Dschaak, Jonathon and his family and nominator Dan Horsmon also attended the virtual presentation.
Blog of American Red Cross of Montana 