Officer Mata and Officer Vaughan honored with BPD Life Saving Award

March 7, 2025

On November 18, 2024, Officer Rolando Mata and Officer Jessica Vaughan responded to a call regarding a child found unresponsive due to drowning.

Officer Mata was the first to arrive at the scene and quickly located the unresponsive child, who was barely breathing. He immediately began performing CPR on the child, who responded with a faint gasp of air. Officer Vaughan arrived shortly after and took over the CPR.

The child regained shallow breathing and was transported by Manatee County EMS, ultimately recovering from the traumatic incident.

Performing life-saving efforts on a small child is incredibly stressful for any first responder. The fact that Officer Mata and Officer Vaughan have very young children heightened the stress. However, they remained calm and communicated with each other, dispatchers, and paramedics.

Their actions prevented a parent's worst nightmare from becoming a reality. In recognition of their efforts, Chief Melanie Bevan and Mayor Gene Brown awarded each officer a BPD Life Saving Award.