By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- A man suffered a severe leg injury from a circular saw at a South Street home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, around 4:12 p.m. Tuesday.
- Bridgewater police officers were first on scene and stopped the bleeding using quick-clot gauze and a tourniquet before fire paramedics arrived to administer blood and fluid replacement.
- The Canton Fire Department’s blood transfusion unit met the ambulance en route to the hospital to provide additional treatment.
- Bridgewater’s police and fire chiefs credited joint active-shooter training and a cadaver lab session, where responders had practiced a humeral head intraosseous line technique used in the response.
- The incident remains under investigation by the Bridgewater Police Department.
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — A Bridgewater man survived a severe leg injury from a circular saw Tuesday after police officers and fire paramedics used techniques drawn from joint training exercises, including a cadaver lab session, to stabilize him before he reached the hospital.
The incident occurred at a home on South Street around 4:12 p.m., according to the Bridgewater Police and Fire Departments. A man fell at the home and cut his leg with a circular saw.
Bridgewater police officers were the first to arrive and took over bleeding control from the 911 caller, applying quick-clot gauze and a tourniquet. Bridgewater Fire Department paramedics then arrived to administer blood and fluid replacement before loading the man into an ambulance. En route to the hospital, the ambulance was met by the Canton Fire Department’s blood transfusion unit, which provided additional treatment.
Police Chief Christopher D. Delmonte and Fire Chief John Schlatz said the responders “worked together calmly, quickly and professionally in order to save a life.” Delmonte said the officers’ actions reflected skills practiced during the departments’ annual joint Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response Training.
Schlatz said paramedics used a humeral head intraosseous line technique that had been practiced during a cadaver lab training session. He said a trauma surgeon involved in the man’s care told officials the responders’ actions were instrumental in preventing a more serious outcome.
The incident remains under investigation by the Bridgewater Police Department.