E MS providers from Central Islip (N.Y.) Hauppauge Volunteer Ambulance treat a 30-year-old male patient who sustained severe injuries to his head, arms, hands and legs when the pickup truck he was riding in struck a tree in Hauppauge. Suffolk County Police Department was the first agency on scene. Firefighters with the Hauppauge Fire Department extricated the patient from the truck, and EMS providers placed him in C-spine precautions and applied pressure to his right arm to control an arterial bleed. Providers administered IV fluids and prepared the patient for transport to Stony Brook University Hospital. He survived his injuries. The crew took careful precautions to avoid exposure to blood and bodily fluids and thoroughly sanitized their unit after the call.
This article originally appeared in November 2010 JEMS as “Tree Trauma.”
