HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Three weeks after suffering life-threatening injuries in a car accident, 19-year-old Brantly Harrison was able to walk Wednesday.
He's still recovering from his injuries, but he was able to thank the men and women of Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services, the ones who helped save his life.
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Harrison had to be cut out of the car he was in, but that was just the first major step that kept him alive.
"Scar on my head, fractured skull, lacerated liver," he said. "Blown out knee."
When paramedics arrived, Harrison was quickly bleeding out. The first responders were able to give him a blood transfusion on the spot with blood that had been transported in a thermal cooler.
Two years ago, Cypress Creek EMS was the first known ground EMS service in the country to administer a blood transfusion to a trauma patient in the field. The process has since made an impact even before they get patients to a hospital.
"They're seeing huge differences in trauma cases," said Norm Uhl, the public information officer for Cypress Creek EMS. "Because they didn't make it to the hospital before."
Ground EMS teams need a particular type of blood: O-positive blood that is "low titer," or low in antibodies, thus more compatible with the patient's blood.
Harrison is just glad the system was in place.
"I'm thankful for them for saving my life, for everything that they did for me," he said. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them, obviously."
Cypress Creek EMS and ESD 48 Fire in the Katy area were the first two ground agencies in the country to carry whole blood. Now there are 14 agencies that do so, all in Texas for now.