蜜柚直播

He found a female bicyclist who had been run over by a tractor-trailer.

"I remember seeing her, and I saw the driver standing in the parking lot trying to hold it together," Robinson said. "It appeared the 18-wheeler had completely run over her, stopping just before the last set of tires."

The 36-year-old victim was alert and conscious, with her upper body elevated. She was wearing a pair of shorts and Robinson could see that her legs appeared to be removed from her torso.

Her left leg was mangled at the hip, with what appeared to be a little flesh holding it together, and the right leg was hanging just above the knee.

With the injuries clearly catastrophic and a crowd starting to gather, Robinson knew he had to act fast to keep the woman from bleeding to death.

'It seemed
like a lifetime'

Minutes before the crash, Robinson had driven past the site in his patrol car on the way to another call and had seen nothing out of the ordinary.聽聽

Robinson made a U-turn when the call came over the radio about a major traffic incident in the parking lot of a strip of businesses in the area of East Irvington Road and South Campbell Avenue.

He admits he "freaked out a little" when he first took in the magnitude of the situation. But as a seven-year department veteran and lead police officer in Operations Division South's Squad 3, he quickly focused on the task at hand.

"The first thing I thought was that I had other officers coming to me," he recalled in a recent interview. "I ran back to my vehicle and grabbed my Individual First Aid Kit."

By then, Officers Michael Villareal and Manuel Altamirano had arrived. Robinson instructed them to get their IFAKs and put on gloves.

"We basically dumped our bags in the parking lot and started putting tourniquets on her," he said.

Altamirano helped to stabilize the victim, while Robinson and Villareal applied tourniquets to her legs. When Officer Alicia Vasquez arrived shortly after, Robinson asked her to get her kit from her car, so they had as many resources as possible.

"After that, our job was to stay with the victim until 蜜柚直播 Fire Department came, but they drive those big trucks and ambulatory vans, so they don't move as fast as we do in our new vehicles," Robinson said.

He said the next few minutes felt like a lifetime.

"It was probably only four or five minutes, but it felt so much longer," he said.

He and the other officers tried to keep the victim calm while they waited.

"I don't think she realized the severity of the injuries, because she complained only about the pavement burning her back," Robinson said.

"We talked her through it," while聽applying tourniquets and using gauze to control the bleeding, he said.

The bleeding controlled,聽Robinson and others were able to keep the woman conscious and calm until 蜜柚直播 Fire Department paramedics arrived. The paramedics took her to Banner-University Medical Center, where she underwent emergency surgery.

Left speechless

Robinson's work was far from done. He also had to assist into the investigation of the crash, which was later determined to be the result of distracted driving, according to TPD data.

"Right after, we had to go into the investigative piece and talk to people," he said. "The truck driver couldn't even talk. He didn't know what to say or what to do next. It was like he was frozen in a standstill."

Robinson and the other officers remained at the scene for a few hours. Because of the extent of the victim's injuries, the crash was being treated as potentially fatal, he said.

With multiple 911 calls from passersby, security footage from local businesses, and witnesses, there was plenty of work to be done while they waited for word from the hospital about whether the victim would survive.

By the time Robinson left the scene, he had been told she was still alive, but he didn't know the extent of her internal injuries.

"About a week later, one of my command staff members notified me that doctors said we'd saved the woman's life," Robinson said.

蜜柚直播 Fire Department paramedics and聽the victim's surgeon, Dr. Adil Lokhandwala, credited Robinson's quick use of tourniquets with saving her, according to TPD officials.

Lokhandwala was unable to speak specifically about this case due to patient privacy laws, but he spoke about the importance of tourniquets in managing traumatic injuries in the field.

鈥淭ourniquets play a vital role in controlling life-threatening extremity bleeding, so much, that it has become standard equipment for law enforcement officers to carry, especially since they can be the first personnel to arrive at a scene,鈥� said the Banner-UMC surgeon.

鈥淐orrect application of tourniquet can stop the bleeding and keep the critically injured alive long enough to reach definitive care,鈥� he said, adding that Banner Health鈥檚 trauma program is active in research and training of pre-hospital crews on proper equipment use, and in educating civilian bystanders through the 鈥淪top The Bleed鈥� campaign.

Robinson, for his part, is quick to credit advanced and continuous training the 蜜柚直播 Police Department provides its officers, in law enforcement as well as related fields.

'We prepare for
this constantly'

Robinson, 33, said he has seen more horrific crash scenes during his time with TPD. But this was the first call involving catastrophic injuries in which he'd had to "get the ball rolling medically" before additional help arrived.

"This was the first time where it took the actions of myself and others to save someone's life," he said. "Usually, when I go to these types of calls, it takes the Fire Department to use the Jaws of Life to get them out, or it's a quick medivac thing. They're horrific, but they just get them in and out so fast. With this, I just happened to be the first person there."

He said his TPD training enabled him to think quickly and clearly and to take the right steps to ensure the best chance of survival.聽

"We're constantly being put in these situations during training," Robinson said. "When people say they can't believe we did it, I can. I can see it. We prepare for this constantly."

As of Dec. 30, TPD officers had deployed their first aid kits 190 times this year. The kits come with a two-hour training course, followed by a 30-minute refresher every few years.

Robinson said TPD spends the money and time on training in a variety of areas: crisis intervention, medical, psychological and more.

"Recertifications, making sure everyone knows what's in an IFAK and how to apply it, looking for signs and symptoms of medical or psychological issues," he said. "Because we're often put in moments where that medical and psychological component needs to be assessed."

Thinking it over
on drive home

While TPD officers are trained on what to do in the moment, dealing with the aftermath of emergency calls like these can be complicated.

"The biggest thing with these types of calls," Robinson said, "is they can be detrimental to the brain. You just jump into action and do so much, and everything kicks in after it's said and done.

"When the scene all falls down and the adrenaline comes down, it can be a long drive home where all you're doing is thinking about things and assess what you could have done better."

蜜柚直播 Police Chief Chad Kasmar spoke to that, too, in a recent interview.

"As officers are responding to a call like this, they're mentally preparing for what they're going to see. But there's no amount of training we can give them to be prepared for what they're seeing," Kasmar said.

That's why it's so important to make sure officers are debriefed after traumatic events, he said, and to ensure their mental wellness is taken care of by the department's behavioral support unit and other available resources.

The chief said the crash response exemplifies the city's three public safety partners 鈥� police, fire and the emergency communications center 鈥� working in unison. He applauded the efforts of all.

"Call response times aren't where they need to be, but we'll be there when you need us," Kasmar said. "And we do the best job we can in providing the best medical care we can until the pros get there."

'Hometown hero'
takes wild ride

In October, Robinson was promoted to sergeant, and he now works in Operations Division West.

Because of his actions that May afternoon, he also was nominated as a "hometown hero" to get to ride with an Air Force Thunderbirds pilot at November's Thunder & Lightning Over 蜜柚直播 air show at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

The Air Force reaches out to local agencies and civilian groups for nominations of people to recognize with a Thunderbirds ride at its air shows. From there, D-M officials made the final pick.

"Two days before the flight, I found out I was selected," said Robinson.

He sat through hours of orientation before the actual flight, learning about the components of the jet, what his body would go through during the flight and how to avoid losing consciousness.

"Being up there is amazing," he said.

He said the pilot was a 蜜柚直播 native, making his last flight as a Thunderbird in his hometown with his local law enforcement agency, which "was cool."聽

The pilot, Maj. Jason Markzon, let him fly the jet and control it through some turns. The experience was filmed on a GoPro in the cockpit and later broadcast on the Thunderbirds' social media channels.

"It was absolutely amazing," Robinson said, "and such an honor."