Deputy Austin Mercier, who has been with the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office for nearly 10 years, won the Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans Deputy of the Year award. He was honored at the CrimestoppersGNO annual awards luncheon in New Orleans on March 13. Mercier also received the Deputy of the Year award from the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Mercier said he was grateful for the award.
“It means a lot to be recognized for things we deal with as law enforcement,” he said.
In two incidents last year, Mercier responded with life-saving care.
On June 29, Mercier and another deputy responded to a hit-and-run crash on Airline Highway near Ormond Boulevard in Destrehan and saw two crash victims, both with severed limbs. The two victims were on a motorcycle when they were struck and thrown several feet.
“When I arrived on scene and saw the severed limbs, I knew I had to stop the bleeding as soon as I could with a tourniquet,” Mercier said.
Mercier applied a tourniquet to the driver’s left leg, which stopped the bleeding. The other deputy applied a tourniquet to the passenger’s left leg. The victims were then flown to a level 1 trauma center, and both victims survived the crash. EMS and trauma surgeons attributed the victims’ survival to the actions of Mercier and the other deputy.
“It’s great to know that I did my job how I was trained to, successfully,” Mercier said.
Then, on Aug. 10, Mercier responded to calls of a person in distress on the Hale Boggs Bridge in Luling. When Mercier arrived on the scene, the person began climbing the railing of the bridge in an apparent attempt to end her life.
“When I arrived on scene and observed her climbing up the railing, my first thought was, ‘no you’re not jumping off this bridge,’” Mercier said.
Mercier ran toward her and pulled her down from the railing of the bridge.
“After I got her off the railing my goal was to calm and console her and make her realize that nothing in this world is so bad to end your life,” he said. “I basically told her that she has a life worth living for. She has family friends that love her and would never want her to end it.”
Mercier kept her calm until EMS arrived, and he stayed with her until her family arrived at the hospital.
“I went to the hospital because I felt like she didn’t need to be alone at that moment,” he said.
When he looks back on these two events, Mercier said it feels great knowing that he did the job he was trained to do.
“I relied on my training and it’s great to see all the training we have pay off,” he said. “I became a deputy because I loved doing the job when I was [in the military police corps] in the Army. When I got out the army, I wanted to continue doing the job.”
Each year, CrimestoppersGNO and the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust recognize law enforcement officers who exemplify the core values of character, courage, public trust, community service, reverence for the law, respect, and integrity.
