Whitfield County Deputy Named “First Responder Hero” of the Month

Whitfield County, GA (WDEF)- First Responders are those highly trained public servants who are a welcome sight when you have a problem.
It could be a police officer, sheriff’s deputy, firefighter, EMS technician or a state trooper—and they do their jobs without fanfare.
As a regular feature, News 12 Now is going to recognize some of these people who go above and beyond the call of duty.
Here’s this week’s “First Responder Hero”.

Deputy David Headrick of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Department is this week’s First Responder Hero.

“Something ain’t right, let’s take a gander at the property,” said Deputy Headrick.

Whitfield county deputy David Headrick knew something was wrong when he was dispatched to do a welfare check on the resident of this home in Tunnel Hill. School resource officer Michael Hawkins joined Headrick, whose body-cam documented what happened next.

Headrick said, “Hey, Charles, how you doing man? OK here he is, Charles how long have you been here, buddy? …behind the house.”

The resident had ventured into the brush behind his home. He fell into briers and was unable to get up.

“You know the t-v was on, the door was unlocked. And you know most older folks are on a limited budget…everything he had was going that day..so I knew he couldn’t be far away.” ‘

Sheriff Scott CHitwood with Whitfield County said, “Things just weren’t right, he took it upon himself to kind of follow a little trail in the back yard and the man was outside, he’d been there for several hours.”

Deputy Headrick’s actions on that summer day in 2015, and his daily job performance, did not go unnoticed–he was named Whitfield county employee of the year.

Chitwood said, “He goes above and beyond. He will answer a call on an investigation ..he’ll dig, he’ll keep up with neighborhoods, little country stores, he go back and get information.”

Sheriff Chitwood says the persistence of Deputy Headrick, a 13 year veteran of the department , likely saved that citizen’s life.

And we add our congratulations for a job well done, by naming Deputy David Headrick our “First Responder Hero” of the month.

If you’d like to nominate a first responder, visit our website—WDEF.COM and click the “First Responder” button.