Rescue Chief recognizes deputy's tibia at the crash scene and gets it to the hospital in time
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Corporal Carlos Brito is walking today in part because of a fire chief's quick thinking and deep understanding of emergency medicine.
Reviewing a horrific crime scene less than an hour after a Sheriff's deputy was intentionally struck by a car, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue's Rescue Chief Todd Carnell noticed something important: A leg bone was still embedded in the frame of the vehicle.
The story already was unbelievable. On November 9, 2022, a man deliberately drove his car at high speed into a deputy standing next to his cruiser after responding to a call for service.
Another deputy at the scene of the attack tied a tourniquet on the injured deputy's mangled leg, and the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue team showed up quickly to stabilize the victim and rush him to Tampa General Hospital.
Rescue 37 out of Riverview was closest when the call came in, and the crew had Cpl. Brito at TGH's Emergency Department quickly.
Reporting to the scene
Chief Carnell and Quality Management Chief Prudy Vallejo heard the call from Hillsborough Fire Rescue headquarters -- also in Brandon -- and rode out to the scene immediately to assist crews.
Upon arrival, Carnell and Vallejo spoke with HCSO and reviewed the wreckage. That's when Chief Carnell saw the bone - a perfectly preserved upper tibia lodged in the frame of a Toyota Camry.
Carnell knew that many body parts could be re-attached or re-incorporated into the body if they were preserved safely and operated on quickly.
As rescue chief, Carnell oversees medical operations for HCFR's EMTs and paramedics. He has specialized experience, as well as contacts at all the local hospitals. Carnell called the chief of trauma at TGH.
"I know you have a deputy coming in with severe leg trauma. I think I can get you a significant bone from his leg if that's helpful," Carnell told the Trauma department at TGH.
"Please bring it." The doctor replied.
Road to recovery
Doctors performed subcutaneous abdominal preservation with the tibia by placing the bone piece in his abdomen while they prepared his leg to reimplant the bone. Once the medical team had his bone back in place, his long recovery could begin.
Brito is back at work and walking again now. That would have been far less likely if Chief Carnell had not found Brito's tibia wedged in the car.
This was not the first time Chief Carnell packaged up body parts at the scene and took them to the hospital for re-attachment. It happened in the early 2000s in Thonotosassa - another tibia.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue trains rescue personnel to scan for and safely bring anything that may have been severed in a crash or other traumatic incident because you never know when you can try and make a patient whole again.
This story is part of Hillsborough County's 50-for-50 Series, a historic review of some of the memorable events, dates, and people in the history of Hillsborough Fire Rescue, which was born on Aug. 27, 1973.
Want to know more? Read additional stories that show the growth, bravery, and specialized operations of Hillsborough County's largest department.