story and photos by Christopher R. Martin
Brockport Firefighters were summoned to a Hollybrook Road address on August 9 for an 11-year-old who fell and was bleeding from an artery in his arm. Brockport Fire District’s Cheryl Wiest, Captain of the Fire Police Squad, is credited with bringing the bleeding under control prior to other responders arriving on scene.
Neighbor kids were throwing a ball around the back yard when one of them lost his footing while reaching for the ball. He landed on a terracotta pot, which shattered on impact lacerating the child’s arm, causing what 911 classified as an arterial bleed.
In the moments prior to 911 entering the information into their computer system to alert Brockport’s First Responders, one of the neighbors ran across the street to another neighbor screaming for help while still on the phone with 911.
Cheryl Wiest, a ten-year member of the Fire District, was at home on this warm summer evening when her neighbor burst through her front door yelling for her to grab her first aid equipment and come with her. Cheryl ran to her garage to get her FD-issued tourniquet as her neighbor described a serious bleed from the child’s arm. When it wasn’t readily available, Cheryl noticed a ratchet strap hanging on the wall and a gutter nail laying on the floor nearby. She grabbed both and headed to the neighbor’s house.
As she entered the backyard, she observed what she described as blood “spurting” from the wound. Cheryl’s emergency first aid training kicked in and she immediately applied the makeshift tourniquet. She then twisted the nail until the bleeding stopped. Deputy Fire Chief Tim Smith arrived shortly thereafter, assisting Cheryl with more first aid supplies and in calming the situation until Monroe Ambulance arrived on scene and relieved them. The EMS crew noted Cheryl’s fast action as effective in preventing a major loss of blood for the child.
Wiest has garnered the attention of both the leadership of the Fire District and the local media. The district nominated her for Firefighter of the Year with the American Legion and plans to honor her with their own Life-Saving Award at their annual awards ceremony in the Spring. WROC Channel 8 named her their “First Responder of the Month” when they aired their monthly first responder highlight on October 7, 2024.
