My respect and admiration for wildlife enforcement agents always has been high. It rose even more after two recent reports about their actions in the Sportsman’s Paradise.

State Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division agents do more than enforce important wildlife laws concerning game and fish as well as other regulations covering licensing, harvesting and boating. Their job requires physical fitness training, specialized defensive tactics and firearms training, extensive understanding of state and federal laws, proper arrest procedures and standard first aid.

That standard first aid can save someone’s life, like it did May 9 in New Orleans East.

Cpl. Joshua Laviolette was checking fishing licenses that evening when an adolescent girl ran up to him and asked him to help her grandfather. Approximately 100 yards away, a 60-year-old Chalmette man’s face was blue and he had no pulse by the time Laviolette arrived on the scene, according to the LDWF.

While driving a pickup truck to New Orleans from Slidell on Interstate 10, the grandfather became unconscious. The girl was able to get control of the vehicle and steer it to the closest exit in New Orleans East.

She sprinted for help when she saw Laviolette, who immediately went to the pickup truck, checked for vital signs and found no pulse.

“Laviolette’s first response training kicked in. He was able to quickly diagnose the situation,” Col. Chad Hebert, LDWF Enforcement Division head, said.

Laviolette pulled the man from the pickup truck, placed him on the ground and started chest compressions. A Good Samaritan nearby helped him administer CPR for two to three minutes before the victim began breathing and his heart started beating.

Laviolette stayed with the man until paramedics with New Orleans Emergency Medical Services arrived. A few days later, the victim was released from the hospital.

Hebert praised the girl, the Good Samaritan and Laviolette for their quick reaction at a critical time.

Eight days later, heavy rains soaked most of South Louisiana, including Lake Charles. Southeast Lake Charles flooded badly.

LDWF Enforcement Division agents rescued 110 people, including seven with physical limitations. The children and adults, along with 15 dogs and cats, were taken to high ground, where family members were waiting, or shuttled to a nearby shelter, according to the LDWF.

Eleven agents with boats conducted the rescues from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m.

LDWF is the lead search and rescue agency in the state under the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness emergency support function framework.

For Laviolette and those 11 enforcement agents, it was another day on the job. That’s reassuring.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.