'There was no pulse and he wasn't breathing': Oakland police officers save 18-year-old from overdose

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- One hour into his shift, Officer Jose Vega jumped over the station's front desk counter to save a life.

"A neighbor and his brother came in and the first thing they said was 'my brother needs help, I think he's dead'," said Oakland Police Officer Jose Vega.

Officer Vega called for backup and ran out of the station where he began CPR on an unconscious 18-year-old boy.

With tears in his eyes, Officer Vega described the boy's condition, "The body was very cold, there was no pulse and he wasn't breathing."

The victim's brother said the young man had overdosed on cocaine and heroin.

Officer Mattson arrived to the station, ran to the back of his patrol car, and grabbed his medical bag where he had two units of Narcan.

"We had just been trained on this by the OPD medical staff and been issued Narcan for these types of situations," said Officer Mattson.

According to Oakland Police, they've saved five lives in the last 45 days thanks to the Narcan training. Now every field officer carries Narcan with them.

Recently, Highland Hospital donated 800 units of the drug to the Oakland Police Department.

"It's not too often that we can honor officers who save lives and it does happen quite often," said Lt. Bryan Hubbard.

Officer Vega and Mattson will be recommended to receive the Medal of Valor. But to them, seeing the victim survive is their biggest reward.

"I looked at his brother and his brother smiled at me. The first he said was 'thank you,' thank you over and over again," said Officer Vega.