Charles Kraeling, a protection service officer at the Cowichan District Hospital, is being honoured for his heroic actions at the health facility during an incident in July.

Kraeling, who has worked at the hospital for 10 years, has received an Award of Valour from the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety for exemplary performance in extraordinary circumstances.

Kraeling responded to a Code White call at the hospital and found a knife-wielding man who was threatening himself, patients and staff in a four-bedroom ward.

sa国际传媒淗e was swinging the knife wildly around and my main concern was to get him away from the other patients and nurses in the ward,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淚 started talking to him, but he was obviously not in his right state of mind. I did manage to convince him to leave the room and I was thinking on how I could get the knife away from him.sa国际传媒�

Kraeling said something distracted the man and he took his eyes off of him, which provided Kraeling the opportunity to grab the mansa国际传媒檚 knife arm.

sa国际传媒淲e had a brief struggle and I managed to get the man onto the ground, and he released the knife,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淢y partner, who was staying back until then, managed to kick the knife further away, and I handcuffed him. The nurses gave him some medication and he started to come to some realization of what was going on. He just wasnsa国际传媒檛 thinking in a right state of mind until then.sa国际传媒�

Kraeling said no one was injured in the incident and the man was very apologetic for his actions.

sa国际传媒淗e really didnsa国际传媒檛 mean to be violent,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a hospital, so there are mental health and drug issues and incidents that tend to happen there from time to time, but itsa国际传媒檚 the first incident of this type that Isa国际传媒檝e been involved with there.sa国际传媒�

Krealing received his award last week at a ceremony at Vancouver General Hospital, along with fellow protection service officer Mattaius Bruecki who received an Award of Distinction for his compassionate handling of a person in need at a Victoria hospital.

sa国际传媒淚 had no idea I was even nominated for the award until last week,sa国际传媒� Kraeling said.

sa国际传媒淚t makes me feel good about my job and the work I do.sa国际传媒�

robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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