Hancock Police Lt. Dave Outinen, right, presents Hancock Police Sgt. Darick Coponen and Houghton County Deputy Blake Frantti with Life Saving Awards for their role in resuscitating an unresponsive man in Hancock in September. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)

HANCOCK — The backpacks heaped on the table at Glad Tidings Church in Hancock Sunday morning were a testament to the work the Hancock Police Department had already put in them, and the help the church wanted to give in return.

To coincide with National Police Appreciation Day on Thursday, the church held a ceremony Sunday morning to honor the department.

It’s not the first collaboration between the two. Earlier this year, the department honored Glad Tidings’ request to come to the church to lead an active shooter drill and train the church’s team.

“They did a wonderful job of training our team and our church and our staff,” said TJ Stauffer, pastor at Glad Tidings. “And so we said, ‘Man, now we’ve really got to do something to show appreciation.'”

That appreciation came in the form of filling a departmental need — updated medical kits. Through fundraising “way above and beyond” its original goal, Stauffer said, the church purchased medical equipment and advanced trauma kits for all 11 officers of the Hancock Police Department.

The specialized backpacks could fit automatic defibrillators and other equipment, allowing officers to grab them and carry necessary equipment to the scene. Officers also received individual trauma kits for arterial bleeding. The kits are designed to be opened even with one hand, allowing officers to use them even if they have been wounded, Stauffer said.

“They came and they helped us, and the Bible says, ‘Love your neighbor,'” he said. “The police don’t always get a lot of attention, and yet they’re vital to our community. And especially in a small town like Hancock these officers do a big job in a small place.”

Below the table were goodie bags for the officers, including boxes of Kind granola bars and a book provided by one of Stauffer’s best friends, an emergency services chaplain for New Orleans Police Department. The friend had kept a phone appointment even in the midst of the response to the domestic terrorist attack on Bourbon Street.

“He said, ‘TJ, I want to make sure your police get this book. I give this to every person in the New Orleans Police Department,'” Stauffer said.

Lt. Det. Dave Outinen of the Hancock Police Department was on hand to accept the donations.

“Generally police officers are pretty humble, and we don’t like the spotlight,” Outinen said. “So this is really humbling … this is just to help us help you.”

He also presented Life Saving Awards to Hancock Sgt. Darick Coponen and Houghton County Deputy Blake Frantti. On Sept. 12, they responded to a medical emergency on Ethel Avenue to find an unresponsive man who was blue in the face and not breathing. They performed CPR and helped the man regain a pulse and breathe on his own, stabilizing him until Mercy EMS arrived on scene. He was transported to the hospital and survived.

“I will tell you that is extremely rare to be able to resuscitate a person and they’re still alive,” Stauffer told his parishioners Sunday. “So that is just phenomenal. … people don’t always realize that when you call 911, it’s often the police who are first to get there, even if it’s a medical emergency. And so people forget what a value they are to our community in every way possible.”