MIAMI (WSVN) - A security guard at a Miami hospital was praised for his quick actions after finding a man with several gunshot wounds, and he said a life-saving lesson he learned earlier prepared him for this situation.
7News cameras captured the moment University of Miami Health Safety Officer Tyreke Spann was given Miami-Dade County Emergency Preparedness’ 2021 Life Saving Award at a ceremony held Thursday.
Spann was honored for his heroism and the actions that helped save a man’s life.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever had to apply a tourniquet and the first time I’ve dealt with a [gunshot wound] victim,” he said.
Spann was on the Medical Campus of UHealth and Jackson Memorial Center in December when he came across a man in desperate need of help.
“A gunshot victim in the back of the car that fell out of the back of a car, and at that point, like I said, it was just an instinct from a training that we had just recently gone through,” he said.
The victim had been shot six times.
After calling for backup, Spann immediately put into practice what he had learned just weeks earlier, the so-called “stop the bleed” method: applying pressure, packing wounds and applying tourniquets.
It’s training offered to first responders by The Gordon Center at UHealth.
“This is what we do here at The Gordon Center. It’s what we do here at UHealth and the Miller School of Medicine. What we do is save lives,” said Vincent Torres with the UM Miller School of Medicine, “and it’s not just the doctors and nurses, it’s our first responders, public safety officers doing what they do.”
The shooting victim was eventually taken to Ryder Trauma Center for treatment.
Spann said he hopes to see more first responders equipped to handle similar situations.
“There’s a lot of great other men and women that I work with that unfortunately are not here at this time, and we all just do the best that we can every day, honestly,” he said, “so it’s not as much feeling as a hero as it’s feeling like a humble servant doing what I was there to do. I was at the right place, at the right time, and it’s just God’s will after that.”
The shooting victim is recovering and said to be doing well.
Spann said he will be going into law enforcement and will be joining the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
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