By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
A quick-acting, off-duty Border Patrol agent is being credited with saving the life of a bicycle accident victim in Yuma, Ariz.
Border Patrol Agent Travis J. Carter was watching his daughter’s soccer practice when he heard about a car striking a bicyclist down the road.
The agent sprinted to the accident scene and found an unconscious man in the middle of the road with a large laceration in the victim’s femoral artery.
Carter, with the help of a bystander, applied pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding from a wound that reached the victim’s thigh bone. When police arrived, the agent used a tourniquet on the victim’s leg until paramedics arrived.
The victim was rushed to Yuma Regional Medical Center, where he was in stable condition.
“These are the reasons why I joined this agency, acquiring the platform and training necessary to make a difference in the lives of the ones I come in contact with,” Carter says in a news release. “We do not have the advantage of choosing the type of situations we respond to, but we do have the benefit of choosing how we respond.”
Yuma Sector’s Acting Chief Patrol Agent Carl Landrum applauded Carter’s actions.
“Agent Carter’s quick thinking, ability to react in high-stress situations and preparedness saved this man’s life,” said Yuma Sector’s Acting Chief Patrol Agent Carl Landrum. “His expertise and training highlights the adaptability and first-response capabilities of U.S. Border Patrol agents in our community—on and off duty, I’m proud of Agent Carter’s actions.”
