Off-duty Stanislaus deputy and friend saved lives of three crash victims, CHP reports
An off-duty Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputy and a Ripon man saved the lives of three Stockton residents whose ATV crashed over an embankment and overturned into water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta late last month, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The rescue occurred Sunday, July 26, the Stockton area CHP office posted on Facebook on Tuesday. Jason Buffalow was boating with Deputy Kevin McCarthy and others when Buffalow’s son spotted the crash and cried out.
Seeing a cloud of dust on the river bank, Buffalow brought his boat side by side with the crashed ATV, the post says. An adult female driver and two passengers — an adult male and a 10-year old female — had been riding in the vehicle.
Susana Salcedo, 25, was driving the vehicle, and little sister Zayra was in the rear. The male passenger was Luis Ramos, 29.
Buffalow and McCarthy jumped into the water and swam to the crash victims, the post says. McCarthy got Ramos to shore and determined he had “severe injuries to his right arm and leg that could be life threatening if quick action wasn’t taken,” the CHP reported.
Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Tom Letras told The Bee that McCarthy and the others on the boat first noticed the Salcedos, who were trapped upside down in the ATV, their heads just touching the water.
“When we first fell, we were drowning,” Susana Salcedo said. “I don’t know how we managed to lift our heads. I couldn’t do anything to help because my sister was at the back.”
Buffalow was able to unfasten their seat belts and pull both to safety, the CHP reported.
McCarthy spotted Ramos, who’d been ejected from the vehicle. His foot was partially severed and he was losing a lot of blood, Letras said. Further assessment showed Ramos’ arm had been partially degloved, exposing tissue and bone, the sergeant said.
McCarthy asked to be thrown life vests, and he turned two of them and PVC pipe into makeshift tourniquets. “It was determined later that the usage of these tourniquets saved the man’s life,” the post says.
The deputy also splinted, and perhaps applied a tourniquet to, Ramos’ arm, Letras said. “Talking with the Stockton CHP, they said the guy would probably not have survived (without McCarthy’s aid), based on where they were and the severity of his injuries,” Letras said.
“Without the efforts of these two brave men, 3 lives would’ve been lost,” the post says.
Susana Salcedo said Tuesday that she and her sister are still in pain but are “doing OK.” She said she had the opportunity to call McCarthy and Buffalow early that afternoon to thank them.
The men inquired about Ramos, who she said remains hospitalized, “but thank God he’s recovering day by day.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 11:54 AM.
