Two Des Plaines cops to be honored for saving lives

Two Des Plaines police officers will be honored at Monday's city council meeting for separate lifesaving efforts.

In one case, officer John Doherty helped rescue a man who had collapsed and wasn't breathing. In the other, officer Michael Kurotobi saved a 3-week-old girl who wasn't breathing.

Doherty jumped into action on Jan. 14 at Nu-Way Industries, 555 Howard Ave.

After a 58-year-old employee collapsed, a co-worker began performing CPR, according to a memo from Deputy Police Chief Dan Shanahan.

When Doherty arrived, he assisted and then took over CPR until firefighters got there. They replaced Doherty doing CPR, and the man began breathing again.

The man, a Schaumburg resident, subsequently was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

Doherty, who has been with the department since 2007, will receive a Life Saving Award. The employee who first performed CPR already has received a Citizen Service Award. Police said he has requested anonymity.

The second incident occurred just a few weeks later on Feb. 4.

In that case, Kurotobi and other officers responded to a call of a baby not breathing in a house on the 100 block of Drake Lane.

Upon arrival, Kurotobi found the infant and her mother in the living room, Shanahan wrote in a separate memo. Kurotobi took the baby, checked her airway and then gave several back blows to clear the airway of phlegm and mucus that had accumulated there, police said. The technique worked, and the baby resumed breathing and crying.

The baby was taken to Lutheran General.

Like Doherty, Kurotobi will receive a Life Saving Award.

"The officers' ability to act quickly, at a critical time, is a direct result of their training and commitment to service," police Cmdr. Matt Bowler said.

Kurotobi has been with the department since 2015.

Monday's council meeting is set for 7 p.m. at city hall, 1420 Miner St. You can attend in person or watch it live over the internet at bit.ly/3vm54o3.