FARMINGTON — Selectmen at their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10, accepted two donations to the Police Department in support of Active Shooter Incident Management training related expenses.

Franklin Savings Bank donated $2,000 while Kyes Insurance donated $1,641.

“You have heard me talk about the active shooter training that we did this summer which I just can’t say enough about,” Police Chief Kenneth Charles said. “It generated a lot of enthusiasm. Aside from going through a situation, it gave as realistic a picture of what was happening in those circumstances would be like.”

Charles said the training included 65 people from all over the state, probably half from the local area. “I just couldn’t envision how we would be able to send 65 people out into the community to then come back in a timely manner,” he noted. “Plus I wanted to see the networking, wanted to see people working on projects over lunch associated with the training.”

Former employee Bonnie Pomeroy now works at Franklin Savings Bank for security, Charles said. “We were having a conversation about the training and she ended up taking the initiative to go to the executives of the bank,” he noted. “They approved up to $2,000 to offset meal costs at the university. Ultimately to me it is the community taking care of the people who take care of the community.”

He also recognized Kyes for their donation and Sodexo, the company which provides meals at University of Maine at Farmington for donating coffee and snacks in the afternoon. When asked, he said the Kyes donation also came about through having conversations with people. “Before we knew it, we had enough money to cover 100%,” he noted. “Between the two organizations, it paid for the whole thing.”

“They stepped up for the community once again,” Selectman Dennis O’Neil stated.

In other business, Charles recognized Destiny Smith and Cpl. Ryan Rosie for their recent actions.

“Destiny Smith, age 23, she went to high school with my kids,” Charles said. “I have known her since she was just a little critter. When I saw her name come across my desk it was the circumstances that made it incredible.”

Smith was working the late night shift when she saw a Silver Alert come across the lottery ticket machine, Charles noted. She remembered having seen the man earlier and when he came back she delayed him and called the police, he said. Officers responded, verified it was the missing man who was in pretty rough medical condition, he continued. Officers provided care, an ambulance transported him to the hospital and he was reunited with his family in Old Town, he added.

“It is just really neat, that awareness of what is going on around you and taking care of others that I thought was pretty special,” Charles stated.

He then shared information about an incident in August when Rosie was first on the scene where there was an unresponsive female. Rosie initiated medical procedures including cardiopulmonary resuscitation and application of his issued automatic external defibrillator, Charles noted.

Farmington Fire Lt. Joseph Hastings arrived to assist, and they repositioned the patient to a less restrictive space and continued life sustaining efforts, until NorthStar Ambulance arrived to perform advanced interventions, Charles said. As a result of the combined efforts, pulse was restored, and the patient was transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital, he noted. Early intervention on the part of Cpl. Rosie and Lt. Hastings certainly made a difference in the outcome of this incident, he said.

Charles said long term it might not have ended well but “without their efforts she wouldn’t have stood a chance.”