Garland County sheriff’s Sgt. Bill House was awarded a Certificate of Valor Wednesday for potentially saving a shooting victim’s life last month by putting a tourniquet on the man’s bleeding leg.
On Jan. 10, House was on his way to an unrelated incident when the call came through of a shooting at the Motel 6, 106 Lookout Point.
“I was en route to something else, and I happened to be right in front of the hotel,” House told The Sentinel-Record on Wednesday.
An Employee Commendation written by Sheriff Mike McCormick, which he presented to House during a ceremony Wednesday, states House was informed the shot came from Room 205.
“Sgt. House knocked and announced himself and was let into the room. He observed a white male lying on the floor in the doorway covered in blood and holding a towel around his right knee.”
After scanning the room for officer safety, House ran back to his patrol car and got out a tourniquet.
“(After seeing all) the amount of blood I saw in the room, the only thing I could do is get the blood stopped, so I ran back and got a tourniquet. I got the bleeding to stop, loaded him up and sent him to the hospital,” House said.
“I figured this guy probably would have bled out in a couple of minutes,” he said.
Under Sheriff Jason Lawrence said “with an arterial bleed” the injured person on average has between 90 seconds to three minutes before they die from their injury.
“Sgt. House took quick and decisive action to save the life of another,” Lawrence said.
McCormick said the injured man, later identified as Blake Prater, was “very lucky” House was nearby.
Prater’s brother, Eryk Kent Prater, 38, was arrested the next day, Jan. 11, for allegedly shooting his brother in the motel incident and was charged with first-degree domestic battery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Lawrence said that since 2015, “under the leadership and direction of Sheriff McCormick,” the staff of the sheriff’s department has been trained on how to stop bleeds.
McCormick said Quick Clot Bleed Kits were donated to the department by Lee Hadlock, with each kit coming with three tourniquets and three packets of quick clot gauze and pressure bandages.
House said he has been in law enforcement since 1985, and this was the first time he has ever had to use a tourniquet outside of practice, noting he recommends everyone learn more about how to stop bleeding.
“I actually took another online class on it about two weeks ago,” House said.
Both McCormick and Lawrence also recommended the general public become more aware of how to stop bleeding injuries. McCormick said deputies having to use tourniquets is “becoming quite regular,” noting he could think of “half a dozen in the last year, and every time they are a lifesaving option.”
McCormick said, “I believe, probably a life was saved by Sgt. House’s quick actions. I’m proud of him, he sets a good example.”
This was the second time this month McCormick has presented a Certificate of Valor; another was presented to Cpl. Jon Lane on Feb. 11 for pulling an elderly woman out of a burning house.