Katherine Barbour, an 18-year-old senior at Daviess County High School, was presented an award Thursday for helping save a man’s life earlier this week while participating in her co-op work-study program in an area nursing home.
Barbour is a Cadet Lieutenant Commander in the DCHS Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. She joined the school’s NJRTOC program her freshman year and is the current executive officer, the second-highest ranking position.
During the Daviess County Public Schools Board of Education meeting Thursday, Barbour was surprised with the NJROTC Cadet Meritorious Achievement Ribbon. She also received a certificate detailing her actions and commemorating the honor.
Barbour preferred not to comment on her actions or the award. Instead, Commander Tyler Goad — who oversees the DCHS NJROTC program — briefly spoke on Barbour’s behalf. Goad is also the one who provided the details that appear on the certificate.
The certificate reads, in part: “Exhibiting exceptional moral courage in performance of her civic, school, and NJROTC duties, Cadet Lieutenant Commander Katherine Barbour demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, conscientious observation, clear-headedness, and life-saving knowledge while at the Waters Of Rockport Rehabilitation And Skilled Nursing Center on September 18th, 2023. While participating in her Co-Op work-study program in a local nursing home, she discovered one of the elderly patients lying in his bed wasn’t breathing and did not have a pulse. She immediately called for assistance and began CPR using techniques she initially learned in NJROTC classes. After administering CPR for approximately 10 crucial and life-saving minutes, she turned over her CPR duties to staff nurses, who continued to restore the patient’s vital signs, allowing him to be stabilized and sent to the hospital for further assessment. Her immediate and calm initial actions in a high-stress situation built the foundation of a process that resulted in saving a life.”
The certificate also says, “Her example of selfless service, quick thinking, and calm under stress set a standard for her fellow cadets and students, and reflected great credit upon herself and was in keeping with the highest traditions of Daviess County High School and the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Program.”
Goad said this is only the fourth time DCHS has had a cadet receive this award.
“We give out awards all the time, as both a school and as an ROTC program at the school, but this is one of those really special ones that we rarely, rarely give out,” he said. “It’s important. It’s a big deal. She did something worthy of acknowledging.”
