In the early morning hours of Thursday, May 18th, Amanda Tracy decided to go for a drive and clear her head. But as Tracy – an employee at Roger Williams Department of Public Safety and licensed EMT since 2009 – headed home, she came across a grisly emergency unfolding on Thames Street that put her EMT training to the test. For her quick thinking and intervention, the Middletown resident was recognized in a letter of commendation from the Newport Police Department.
“I was driving down Thames Street at about 2 a.m. as bars were letting out and I saw a young man lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk near Dennison Street,” Tracy said. “I pulled over to help.”
The man, who suffered a severe laceration from punching a window pane of a business on Thames Street, was later given a district court summons for the vandalism.
“When I got to him, it was clear he had lost a lot of blood very quickly,” she said.
Fortunately, Tracy had EMT gear stored in her car. “I keep general things I’d need if I ever got into a car accident or something like that,” she said. “Mainly gauze and Israeli bandages, which are sort of a hybrid between gauze and an ace bandage.”
Tracy and an acquaintance of the injured man worked together to apply pressure to his arm and stop the bleeding.
“I got a belt from someone walking down the street and made a tourniquet,” Tracy said. “In EMT training, we learned how to make a tourniquet out of pretty much anything.” Tracy also worked as a lieutenant on URI’s Emergency Medical Services team from 2008 to 2012.
Other bystanders helped as well – Tracy said two girls who were walking down Thames St. called the police and someone who lived nearby brought her a pair of gloves.
“Thankfully Officer Carrig arrived shortly,” she said, “and Newport PD is equipped with combat application tourniquets which we were able to apply.”
The victim was immediately transported to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. (Editor’s Note: What’sUpNewp is working on getting an update on the condition of the injured man, we were last told by a family member that he was in stable condition.)
Tracy is grateful for the recognition but feels she did what any bystander should do. “In my mind I did what I hope anyone would do,” she said.
