TUCSON, Ariz. – Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents do more than chase down smugglers, criminals, and illegal immigrants attempting to slip past border security. Agents are often the first to respond to all sorts of emergencies, whether it involves rescuing an abandoned illegal immigrant lost in the desert or an American citizen injured while hiking in the mountains.
Although all Border Patrol agents are trained to be “first responders,” sometimes they arrive at a scene only to find someone else had arrived to the emergency before them.
Agents recently assisted at a motorcycle accident along State Route 83 on Oct. 24. The Sonoita Border Patrol Station received a request to help while Department of Public Safety and Emergency Medical Service teams were in route. However, when the two agents arrived at the location, they found someone already taking care of the victim – an off-duty Border Patrol agent.
The agent, a certified emergency medical technician, was the first to respond and was already administering lifesaving efforts while waiting for local medical services to arrive.
The on-duty agents jumped in to assist with other roles, such as traffic control and clearing an area for the Life-flight helicopter.
EMS and DPS soon arrived and took control of the scene. The motorcyclist was transported via Life-flight to a hospital in Tucson and treated for serious but non-life-threating injuries.
Border Patrol agents are often called upon to shift immediately from law enforcement to emergency first-responders, assisting local, state, federal and tribal agencies in providing greater services to the public. All agents in the Tucson Sector are first-responder certified, with 255 certified EMT’s and 16 paramedics.