Every day provides an opportunity to help one another. Sometimes this in small ways, and sometimes this is in large ways. Staff Sgt. Matt Grantham, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), completed a small act that impacted a stranger in a large way.
Grantham displayed a core Army value (selfless service) on October 29th, 2017. As he was pulling into his parking lot and saw two people crouched over a man. The woman was holding a ripped piece of t-shirt to a man's arms. Grantham knew something didn't look right so he stopped to help.
Realizing really quickly that the patient had a laceration and a possible arterial bleed, Grantham immediately took over applying pressure and went into his assessment of the wound as he was trained to do in the Army.
"I could tell the man needed help," Grantham said. "Once I realized he was going to bleed out, my military training kicked in and I didn't even think about what I was doing."
Grantham instructed the patient's brother to get Grantham's aid bag out of his truck so he could stop the bleeding. Then he applied a tourniquet and trauma dressing to the laceration.
Grantham remained with the man and kept him calm until Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene. The EMS that responded were not equipped with a tourniquet, and said that the patient was lucky that Grantham saved his life.
"Matt is a consummate professional, and we are very proud of him" said Command Sgt. Major Daniel Orosco, 2nd Battalion, 1st SFG (A). "His actions that day are a testament to his ‎leadership, training, and compassion for others. He embodies the professional spirit of the Green Beret."
An official for Thurston County said when they arrived on scene the patient was in stable condition due to Grantham's actions. "It's always good to see someone from our military that has medical training step up to help a civilian in need," a County spokesman latter said.
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