by Geoff Rushton

State College Police officers’ saved the life of a 25-year-old man’s who suffered major bleeding early Saturday morning after reportedly punching through a window of a downtown business.

Police were monitoring bar crowds at around 2 a.m. Saturday on the 100 block of South Garner Street when officers heard glass break and observed the man pulling his arm out of a large glass window at McLanahan’s.

The man fled and officers found him on the 400 block of East College Avenue, where he was covered in blood from an arterial bleed in his right arm, police said on Monday.

Officers administered first aid and used a belt from the man’s friend as a make-shift tourniquet. A police-supplied tourniquet then arrived and was used to control his bleeding. Trauma staff at UPMC-Altoona, where the man was later taken by Life Flight, said the tourniquet use was a life-saving measure.

Police said the man went unconscious before emergency medical services arrived at the scene. After being taken by helicopter to UPMC, he underwent emergency surgery and is recovering.

State College Police received training in 2015 for the use of tourniquets and each officer is issued one as part of their duty gear.

Police said the incident is still under investigation.