TPD Officer Uses Advanced Medical Training To Save Life

Doctors say a man who severed an artery in his leg is alive, thanks to a Tulsa police officer. But the officer said he did what any other officer would have done.

Police said early Saturday morning a man at the Westport On The River Apartment complex was lying at the bottom of a stairwell, on the verge of bleeding to death.

Neighbors tried to stop the bleeding but nothing worked, until Officer Charles Ramsey showed up and put his new medical training to use.

Ramsey is one of several Tulsa police officers who decided to take their jobs of serving and protecting to a higher level.

4/7/2015 Related Story: Nine Tulsa Police Officers To Graduate EMT Program

“I was at the right place at the right time. I had a tourniquet and knew how to use it," he said.

The simple tool is all Ramsey needed to stop the blood flow after finding the man unconscious from a torn artery in his leg and massive blood loss.

Police said the man, whose name isn’t being released, had fallen through a glass door then down the stairs.

"Well, when we get there, it may be two or three minutes until EMSA can come or Tulsa Fire can come, and now we can bridge those critical few minutes," Ramsey said.

He is one of eight officers who recently graduated from the police officer EMT program, a partnership between TPD and Tulsa Community College.

The course gives officers like Ramsey clinical experience to save lives; and each officer who completes the program is given a specialized first-aid medical kit, which includes a tourniquet.

Major Ryan Perkins with Tulsa Police said, "The reality is these officers aren't going to stand by and watch someone bleed out in front of them. They are going to use that equipment, and save those citizens that need help right now and can't wait for EMSA or fire to get there."

All of the officers on the force are given basic life-saving courses, but officers who want to learn more take the 19-month EMS course.

Ramsey said this is his third time saving a life using what he's learned, but said he's not different than any other TPD officer.

"I can count 700 other officers in this department that would have done the same thing," he said.

Ramsey has finished his initial training courses and is now one of three officers who will be starting an advanced level of medical training.

Starting next week, seven more officers will begin the EMT training.