NEW JERSEY – Three New Jersey State Troopers pulled a man from his vehicle and applied a tourniquet to his leg to help save his life after a car crash on Interstate 287 in Pompton Lakes Township, Passaic County.

On July 4, at approximately 8:06 p.m., troopers from Totowa Station and Netcong Station responded to a motor vehicle crash on Interstate 287 northbound at milepost 54.8. When Trooper II George Ward arrived, he discovered that a Kia Forte struck the rear of a tractor trailer that was parked on the right shoulder. Several on-duty and off-duty first responders advised Trooper Ward that the driver of the Kia was entrapped in the vehicle and was in and out of consciousness.

Without hesitation, Trooper Ward quickly removed the victim from the heavily damaged vehicle and determined that he had a severe leg laceration that was bleeding profusely. When Troopers Kyle Gorman and Michael Krisinski arrived, the troopers quickly applied a tourniquet to the man’s leg to successfully control the bleeding.

Once the man’s leg injury was stabilized, troopers and emergency medical personnel carried the victim to a medivac helicopter. He was then airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, N.J., in serious condition, but was later upgraded to stable.

The quick and decisive actions of Troopers Ward, Gorman, and Krisinski prevented the victim from losing an extensive amount of blood which undoubtedly increased his chances of survival.