STAFFORD — When a life needs saving, it does not matter what size the responding department is. What matters is that there’s one level head and quick action.

Andrew Buzako, who graduated from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in March, was on duty as a full-time member of the Stafford Police Department on Oct. 8, when a report came in of an unresponsive female at a residence in town. 

According to Stafford Police Chief Carl Wettstein, officer Buzako was unable to make contact with anyone inside the residence upon arrival, so he broke down the front door and observed an unresponsive female on the floor. After determining that she was suffering from an apparent overdose and not breathing, he quickly administered two shots of Narcan and began resuscitation. The female was then transported to the Stafford County Hospital.

“It was a fine example of quick thinking and understanding what needed to be done,” noted Chief Wettstein. “He has only been out of the academy for a little over six months so he’s a fairly new guy, but he takes his job seriously and is a pretty quick thinker,” noting that Buzako received high marks among a class who set academic records during training.

The Stafford Police Department currently has four full-time and two part-time officers on the force. Wettstein, who resides in Bel Aire, Kan., which is a suburb of Wichita, travels to Stafford Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, and is available by phone for his captain who is on duty through the middle of the week.

“We may have a small staff, but we get things done,” said Wettstein, who joined the force four years ago. He has been in law enforcement for the past 25 years.