Howell Officer, EMT Save Man Hit By Garbage Truck: Chief

HOWELL, NJ — A Howell Township police officer and an emergency medical technician are being praised for their actions that kept a man from bleeding to death after he was hit by a garbage truck Thursday.

Howell Township Police Chief Andrew Kudrick Jr. said Cpl. Matthew Bishop responded to a call shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday for a report of a pedestrian accident at Cherry Tree Plaza.

He found "a very gruesome scene," Kudrick said. An 82-year-old Howell man had been hit by a large garbage truck, which backed up over the man, he said.

"The victim's leg was amputated and he was suffering additional traumatic injuries," Kudrick said. "He was bleeding out."

Bishop quickly grabbed his tourniquet from his go-bag (a kit of essential emergency items that police officers carry) and applied it to the man's thigh to stop femoral bleeding. As he was doing so, EMT Ryan Gerrity of the Howell Township Police EMS unit arrived and applied a tourniquet to the man's arm.

The man was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, and was in serious condition Thursday evening, Kudrick said.

Although the incident is still under investigation by the Howell Police Traffic Safety Unit, the preliminary report does not find the driver at fault, Kudrick said.

"Upon me personally thanking Cpl. Bishop, he seemed surprised and stated, 'I was just doing my job,' " Kudrick said.

"Yes he was," the chief said in a post on Facebook. "Just like every other officer who goes out there every day and does their job. However, not every day do you truly save someone's life."

:Great job to both Cpl. Bishop and EMT Gerrity for performing their jobs at an exceptional level," Kudrick said.. "And gratitude to all the others who assisted as well."

Photos via Howell Township Police 911 Communications Facebook page