Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories on police personnel who recently received department-wide awards.

It’s hard to remember everything that happened when you’re saving a life. Just ask Suffolk Police Officer Lamont Greer.

In February, Greer was honored with the department’s 2011 Lifesaving Award for reviving a man who had suffered cardiac arrest.

When interviewed about the incident recently, he recalled it as being during the summer. It was on March 15. He recalled giving chest compressions for two minutes. It was closer to four minutes, according to a press release announcing his award. 

But when you’re saving a life, you don’t focus on the small details, he said.

“I was just doing my job,” he said. “But I’m grateful for the award.”

Greer heard the Priority 1 call in the afternoon of March 15 and realized he was right around the corner. He responded to the address, in the Lake Kennedy neighborhood, grabbed his automated external defibrillator from the car’s trunk and went up to the house.

“As soon as I got to the door, he stopped breathing,” Greer said.

Greer immediately put his training to action, using the machine and giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation. By the time the rescue squad arrived about four minutes later, the man was breathing on his own again.

“When I was going back to the sector, everything was on replay,” he said. “It was like I was watching myself do all that.”

It was just another day in the life of his dream job.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid,” he said. “During cops and robbers, they always made me the cop, automatically.”

Greer served two tours in the Gulf War with the U.S. Navy before being honorably discharged. He also worked armed security in Norfolk before coming to the Suffolk Police Department more than four years ago.

“I like the problem-solving, the unknown,” he said. “I like to jump right in the mix and try to make a difference.”

Sgt. Mark Erie, who nominated Greer for the Lifesaving Award, said Greer is dedicated and hardworking.

“On this date, he showed outstanding courage and professionalism by using all of his training and the tools that he was given to help sustain life,” Erie said.

Greer’s family includes two children, Adrian and Ebony.