TWINSBURG, Ohio — Olivia Bartulovic knew from a young age, growing up in Twinsburg, Ohio, what she wanted to do as a profession.
“I love to come to work every single day,” she said.
She remembers the day she discovered her calling clearly because it was a somber day.
“One of our officers was killed in the line of duty in 2008, Josh Miktarian,” she said. “I was only 11 when he was killed. I never got to meet him, but ever since then, I decided I wanted to honor him and carry on his legacy.”
The 25-year-old did honor Miktarian, the moment, three years ago, when she became a Twinsburg Police Officer.
“I’m first generation law enforcement in my family,” she said.
As an officer, she admits there are good days and bad days.
“I’m glad I have the team that we have and we can make it through the shift together and make it home safe,” she said.
Twinsburg Police Chief Tom Mason can attest to the teamwork of the department.
“It’s busy. It’s busy every day and these officers answer the call every day,” he said. “Officer Bartulovic came on a few years ago and we knew she’d be good. She’s homegrown, a product of Twinsburg.”
Just a few weeks back, on July 18, she showed her commitment to her city by saving two lives, in just one shift.
“We got a call of a fully unresponsive male who went into cardiac arrest in our business district,” she said.
Bartulovic rushed to the scene and even got there before Twinsburg’s EMS arrived. The man was in full cardiac arrest and his co-worker was performing CPR.
She took over and continued CPR until medics arrived.
“They got him in the squad and transported him to the hospital and I later found out, later in my shift, that he was alert and they got a heart rhythm back,” she said.
But then, just a couple of hours later, she answered another call for another man in cardiac arrest who had passed out while eating dinner with his wife. Bartulovic was, yet again, the first to arrive on the scene.
“The wife was doing CPR, at first, and I told her just to calm down and that I will take it from here,” she said.
EMS arrived and took over life-saving measures.
“Before they even pulled out of the driveway, he was alert,” said Bartulovic. “It was definitely a team effort.”
Mason said it’s not entirely uncommon for officers to perform life-saving techniques, but said multiple times in one shift is rare.
“What she did is pretty incredible, but to do it twice in one day is even more incredible,” he said.
Bartulovic said the events of the day didn’t sink in until she clocked out.
“The adrenaline stays up throughout the day. I know I have other calls to answer,” she said. “Once I got home I finally realized ‘oh wow, two people are alive. That’s awesome.’”
While Bartulovic is humble about her heroic actions, Mason said that she embodies what all of the men and women in the department do every time they answer a call: protect and serve to the best of their abilities.
“Despite what you may see or hear, whether it’s locally or nationally, there’s bad in every profession, and sometimes that gets the bulk of the attention, but the men and women we have here, they’re just here for their community,” he said.
This article was written by Jessi Schultz for WEWS.
