Poplar Springs nurse honored for heroism

A nurse at Poplar Springs Hospital in Petersburg has been awarded a "Doing the RIGHT Thing" commendation for keeping a suicidal man talking on the phone until emergency personnel arrived to rescue him from a bridge.

Poplar Springs Hospital executives presented the award to Karen Heidorn on May 29. Heidorn, who has more than 13 years of experience handling trauma and high-stress situations, spoke with the man for more than a half-hour.

"Karen is a wonderful person and an exceptional health-care professional," said Poplar Springs CEO Richard Clark. "I'm not at all surprised that she was able to respond in exactly the right way to a very desperate situation."