NCJ Number
203013
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 51 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2003 Pages: 160-162
Date Published
October 2003
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Based on an interview with a severely wounded officer for whom help was delayed (15 minutes) because of the danger of approaching his location under continuing gunfire from a barricaded hostage-taker, this article provides advice on how the mindset and training of a wounded officer can make the difference between life and death.
Abstract
The officer, Corporal Terry Metts of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (Florida), was wounded in his left arm and risked dying from loss of blood through a severed artery. Metts credits his survival not only to physical measures that he and his follow officers took, but also to a conscious decision he made that no attacker was going to defeat him while he was doing his job. Officer Metts had prepared himself mentally and physically to survive his wounds under the circumstances in which he found himself. His training had included shooting with the support hand (he shot out the street light that exposed his location while lying on the ground wounded) and emphasized physical fitness that includes eating healthy food and staying physically fit. His advice for first-line officers if a fellow officer is wounded is as follows: know who is on the scene; keep the radio channel clear for the victim; keep other traffic off of it; know the geographical area and environment for which you are responsible; rely on specialists; and keep telling the downed officer by any means possible that help is coming. Most important, however, is the wounded officer's mindset of determination to survive, which involves a commitment to use every means possible toward that end.