Three Lycoming County employees were applauded for recent actions believed to have saved two lives.

Harry Rogers and Ron Poust, of the county bail/release program, were searching for a client who left a court date without providing a urine sample for drug testing, Warden Brad Shoemaker told the commissioners Thursday.

Using the global positioning monitor the client was wearing, Rogers permissably searched a home he believed the client was visiting to no avail.

Rogers searched the surrounding area and found the client “slumped over the steering wheel” of a vehicle, breathing but unresponsive, Shoemaker said.

Rogers called Poust for aid and the two were able to get the client to a responsive state; however, the client’s health continued to deteriorate, Shoemaker said.

Poust and Rogers took the client to a hospital where two doses of Narcan may have saved the client’s life.

“It’s due to the efforts of Manager Rogers and Officer Poust that this person is alive today,” Shoemaker said. “Their quick thinking and persistent efforts to locate the client were a direct factor in this person receiving medical care.”

The commissioners applauded Rogers and Poust as well as law enforcement in general.

“The work you’ve done is more than deserving of a job-well-done,” said Commissioner Jack McKernan. “You were able to save their life. Hopefully we’re able to get some help for this individual and get their life turned around.”

“It’s significant that the client was in a car,” added Commissioner Rick Mirabito. “What we could have had was someone on the road who was completely impaired and taking the lives of other people.”

It’s apparent that local law enforcement works to take care of people, whether criminal or otherwise, said Commissioner Tony Mussare.

“We’re seeing a reversal, we’re seeing that people are getting better,” he said. “And hats off to you, because you’re the main reason for that.”

Keely Hitchens, a courthouse administration clerk, also recently was thanked for her potentially life-saving efforts.

Hitchens received a phone call last month from someone who sounded distressed and possibly suicidal, Jennifer McConnell, courthouse administrator, told the commissioners at a recent meeting.

“With no formal training, Keely was sympathetic, non-judgmental, patient, calm and accepting,” McConnell said. “While on the phone, she was able to get the attention of a coworker, passing a note to explain the situation.”

The coworker contacted the sheriff’s office and, after assessing the situation, local police officers went to check on the caller at their home. All the while, Hitchens remained on the phone, McConnell said.

“At the conclusion of the event, the sheriff’s office stated that Keely could very well have saved a life that morning,” she said.

Chief Deputy Curtis Ulmer echoed McConnell’s story, saying he visited Hitchens’ office to listen in on the call.

“The comments the caller was making were very suicidal in nature and Keely handled herself professionally,” he said. “By the time the call was over, she had the person calmed down and was getting all kinds of information. She talked the individual into answering the door for the police and reassured the caller they were there to help.”

In other business, the commissioners:

• Approved a grant and monitoring agreement with the Lycoming Police Camp Cadet Foundation Inc., granting the agency $3,000 toward operation costs from the approved outside agencies budget.

• Approved the following personnel: Jonathan D. Fry as a full-time replacement telecommunicator in the Department of Public Safety at $16.59 per hour, effective March 4; Nicholas M. Lomison and Logan M. Vargo as full-time correctional officers in the prison at $16.01 per hour, effective March 3; Paul P. Zenga as a full-time replacement correctional officer in the prison at $16.01 per hour, effective March 12; and David N. Allen promoted to maintenance II in the maintenance department at $16.69 per hour, effective Sunday.

The commissioners will not meet Tuesday, as they will be in Washington D.C., seeking funding for the levee, McKernan said.

The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Thursday in Executive Plaza.