A tugboat deckhand lost his lower left arm in a line handling accident Thursday night in New York Harbor, police said.
A Harbor Police unit responded to the scene near the Statue of Liberty, providing first aid and evacuating the 27-year-old to a waiting ambulance at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, DNAInfo New York reported.
The crewman, whose identity was not released, was working on the Mister T, a 145’x24’x11.9’, 2,200-hp tug operated by Buchanan Marine, New Haven, Conn.
Police sources told DNAInfo that the crewman was securing a line between the tug and a barge shortly after 11 p.m. when it cinched his arm just below the elbow, severing the appendage.
NYPD Special Operations division Chief Harry Wedin credited “excellent work and quick response” by officer Paul Hessian, who applied a tourniquet to the crewman’s arm to control bleeding.
#Now: Excellent work & quick response by #Harbor PO Hessian applying a tourniquet on an aided who's arm was severed, V/O Statue of Liberty. pic.twitter.com/9IGE02gbyL
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) April 14, 2017
