Medina firefighters, police assist man with severe arm injury
Press Release, Medina Fire Department
MEDINA – All Village of Medina police officers and firefighters train several times throughout the year on severe injuries involving massive hemorrhage and tourniquet usage.
Injuries this significant must be recognized and treated immediately to prevent death from rapid blood loss. Arteries are high pressure blood vessels and even a small arterial bleed could prove fatal.
This evening at 6:39 p.m. while on an assignment, Police Officer Michael Forgione was flagged down by an individual. That bystander reported that a male had fallen into a window causing a severe injury to his arm. While assisting the patient, Officer Forgione radioed the Orleans County Sheriff’s dispatchers and requested an ambulance for a severe laceration.
Police Officer Joe Frentz along with Village of Medina Fire and EMS crews were on location within two minutes and encountered a patient with extreme blood loss from a lacerated artery. Crews immediately applied a tourniquet to the patient’s arm ceasing the severe hemorrhage. Once stabilized, the patient was then packaged and transported to the helicopter landing zone and flown to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester by Mercy Flight at 7:10 p.m.
(Editor’s note: This article was submitted by Steve Cooley, a Medina firefighter and paramedic, who is also the public information officer.)
