WHITEHALL — Whitehall deputy and mayor pro-tem Jeff Holmstrom received a lifesaving award at the Feb. 22 Muskegon County Commissioner’s meeting. This is his second such award, after receiving his first in 2019.
“Every year, we as a sheriff’s department, have been wanting to make a conscious effort to recognize our staff and some of the work that they do,” Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office Captain Matthew Smith said. “We have a criteria that has to be met for them to be issued and awarded. We as an administrative group review critical incidents of such and then we issue an award for those who are deserving of it. It’s not just that they’re there when it happened, their actions had to be the result of a life being saved.”
Holmstrom, along with some of his deputy colleagues, have received many compliments from other first responders and are recognized for their efforts to save lives and keep people safe.
“The day he was issued the award was at our county board meeting, and that was actually the same day we had a very critical incident,” said Smith. “A lot of staff said, ‘If something were to happen to me, I’d definitely want Holmstrom there.’
“It comes with a lot of experience, as far as dealing with trauma and critical incidents, like the ambulance at one point in time, and he does a really good job in those circumstances. The award he was issued, our medical staff actually reviewed everything that occurred with all the medics that arrived on the scene, commended our staff including Deputy Holmstrom. Our medical provider was very impressed with how well-rounded our staff is, and how well they’re able to handle such an incident and be of assistance. We lead a lot of life saving efforts in a particular situation. It’s nice to see the work that they do pay off in that regard.”
