An off-duty Border Patrol agent encountered a single-vehicle rollover accident on Saturday afternoon near Hereford and provided life-saving medical care to an injured man who had apparently been ejected from the vehicle.
The off-duty agent was riding his bicycle on Montezuma Canyon Road about half a mile from the Coronado National Monument Visitor Center when he rounded a bend in the road and saw the accident scene.
The Douglas Station agent and another motorist who stopped to assist immediately began working to stabilize the victim by applying an improvised tourniquet to the man’s bleeding leg. A third motorist stopped during this time and called 9-1-1.
Palominas Fire District Emergency Medical Services arrived a short time later and stabilized the man further before taking him to an awaiting air ambulance for transport to a local hospital.
Border Patrol agents receive basic medical training throughout their careers to prepare them to provide lifesaving intervention in medical emergencies. In addition, Tucson Sector retains approximately 275 agents who are nationally certified as emergency medical technicians and 22 agents nationally certified as paramedics, the highest level of ambulatory medical certification.