Wagoner County Deputies Save Lives Through Tourniquet Training

Wagoner County deputies saved three lives in the past few months thanks to having tourniquets in their cars and knowing how to use them.

Deputies said tourniquets are critical because they're often first on a scene, and if you can stop bleeding, you can give somebody a chance to survive.

Body camera video shows when Wagoner County deputies were sent to the Taylor Ferry area when a 10-year-old girl got badly hurt in an ATV crash.

Deputies said her brother was going too fast, and the girl's leg had a big cut and was bleeding badly. 

Deputies quickly grabbed a tourniquet to apply.

“Listen to this, I’m about to put a tourniquet on you," a deputy told the girl.

It slowed down the bleeding, even though the girl was in a lot of pain.

The girl was flown to a Tulsa hospital and will survive.

Just a few days later, deputies were called to the town of Okay, where a 7-year-old girl had cut her leg trying to crawl through a window. Deputies applied two tourniquets to prevent blood loss and comforted her.

“Young lady, this is my special ducky, okay? Hold on to it, okay?" a deputy told her. 

The sheriff’s office said every deputy is trained on how to use tourniquets and they've been used several times to save lives, before an ambulance can get there.

They're also important if an officer gets critically injured on a call.

The sheriff's office said if there's not a tourniquet available, they're also trained on how to improvise, like making one out of a seatbelt or a necktie, or other things they have in the moment.