ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (NEWSPLEX) — On Nov. 11, 2016, Albemarle County Police Officer Jason Beach responded to a home on Irish Road and found a man bleeding from the leg.

“I saw a male victim in the passenger seat of the car bleeding profusely,” remembered Beach.

Apparently, the man had shot himself and hit one of his leg arteries.

Unfortunately, because of Albemarle County’s size, police are generally the first on scene. It means that in a crisis situation where every minute counts, officers will have to administer emergency treatment until medics arrive.

“Most times, I beat first responders,” explained Beach.

In November 2016, Beach was the first to respond to the shooting and found himself in a life-or-death situation.

Fortunately, Beach had his own tourniquet and was able to use it to save the man’s life.

“You practice for the worst case scenario, so you automatically go into a life-saving mindset in order to save this person’s life,” Beach said.

He knew what to do because of his tours in Iraq. But at the time of the shooting, most Albemarle County Police officers were not trained on how to use a tourniquet, and tourniquets were not standard issue equipment.

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