Southampton Village Police Officer Commended For Quick, Lifesaving Action - 27 East
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Southampton Village Police Officer Commended For Quick, Lifesaving Action

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PO Matthew Stetler received a commendation for quick action that saved a construction worker's life.

PO Matthew Stetler received a commendation for quick action that saved a construction worker's life.

Kitty Merrill on Jan 26, 2021

Called to a construction site on Wickapogue Road one afternoon last July, Southampton Village Police Officer Matthew Stetler found a man who had cut his leg open with a metal grinder. The grinder had slipped from the man’s hands and penetrated his leg, and he was bleeding profusely and going into shock.

Officer Stetler applied a tourniquet, and Southampton Village Ambulance transported the man to a nearby landing zone where he was medevaced to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment.

This week Southampton Village Police Chief Thomas Cummings presented Officer Stetler with a departmental commendation. Officer Stetler’s supervisor, Sergeant David Dorchak, said in a recommendation that he was told by the paramedic on the scene that Officer Stetler’s quick action saved the man’s life.

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