Security Guard Uses 'Stop The Bleed' Techniques To Help Save Man's Life

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A man who'd been shot several times was saved thanks to a quick-thinking security guard.

On December 29, around 4:30 a.m., Security Officer Tyreke Spann was working at the UM/Jackson Medical Campus.

"We get flagged down all the time, so I'm like 'hey somebody else is looking for directions', but we actually had a gunshot victim that falls out of the back of the car," said Spann.

Spann rushed to help and called for backup. The injured man was then taken to the Ryder Trauma Center.

"It just kicked in for me to help a person that was in need of help," Spann said.

He knew what to do and had the life-saving equipment thanks to a course he'd taken called 'Stop the Bleed' at the Gordon Center for Simulation and Innovation in Medical Education. It teaches people what to do and how to respond if they encounter someone with life-threatening bleeding.

"Often, people will bleed out if we can't apply these types of life-saving measures," said Dr. Ivette Motola who specializes in emergency medicine. "So, increasingly, law enforcement is taught to do that."

On Thursday morning, Spann was recognized for his actions at the Gordon Center.

"This is why we do what we do," said Angel "Al" Brotons, EMT-P, Associate Director for Operations and Instructor Development at the Gordon Center. "Thanks to Officer Spann's quick thinking and actions, the injured man is alive today. This is the Gordon Center's mission in action – saving lives through simulation, innovation, and education. Seeing the positive outcome of this situation is affirmation of that."

Spann said he doesn't consider himself a hero, just someone who was at the right place at the right time.

"It's not as much as feeling as a hero, just feeling like a humble servant," he said.