ROCKLAND, MASS. (WHDH) - Two Rockland police officers are being hailed as heroes for helping to save a man’s life after his arm was severed in an industrial accident in Rockland early Friday morning.
Rockland police Sgt. Thomas MacDonald and Officer Mark Nota were responding to a 5:50 a.m. report of a severely injured worker at the National Coating Corp. on Industrial Way when they found an injured 66-year-old Pembroke man with an arm that was severed at the elbow, according to Police Chief John Llewellyn.
Although one of his coworkers had created a makeshift tourniquet out of a T-shirt, MacDonald and Nota recognized that the victim was still losing a large amount of blood and retrieved a tourniquet kid out of the back of their police cruiser.
After using the kit to stop the bleeding, Rockland firefighters arrived on scene and provided further medical care.
“Something traumatic like this doesn’t happen all the time, so it says a lot about these two officers to see a situation, respond to it quick, in lifesaving manner,” Rockland Deputy Chief Gerard Eramo said.
The man was taken to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, where he was stabilized before being transferred to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
“The officers said he was already in shock when they arrived and didn’t really know what had happened when they tried to communicate with him and he was about to black out,” Eramo said.
A preliminary investigation suggests the man was working on a machine when his arm got caught and pulled into the gears.
“I want to commend both our officers who responded and immediately took action that likely saved this man’s life,” Llewellyn said in a statement. “Our officers never know what they are going into when they respond to an incident. Which is why it is crucial to keep the medical supplies and tourniquet kits in our cruisers and properly train our officers how to apply medical aid when necessary.”
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