Olin alum saves man’s life in San Diego, California

When Dr. Jeffrey Davis, an emergency room doctor at Missouri Baptist Medical Center and 2017 Olin MBA alum, went on vacation with his family to sunny San Diego, he expected a break from the chaos of the ER. Instead, he spent his last day saving the life of a young man in the harbor whose leg was nearly amputated by a boat propellor.

On March 26, Dr. Davis and his family boarded a whale-watching boat at the San Diego harbor. They had a great trip, sighting a whale and a pod of dolphins. On the way back into the harbor, though, the boat captain noticed something concerning: a nearby vessel had thrown three people from the boat, and the third passenger being pulled back onto the boat had a severe leg wound. His leg had been nearly amputated at the knee, severing a major artery.

Faced with this gruesome scene, Dr. Davis’ medical instincts and level headedness kicked in. He jumped onto the boat and used his belt to create a makeshift tourniquet for the young man’s leg. The bleeding slowed, allowing time for the boat to dock and the young man to be loaded into an ambulance.

After nearly 20 years of experience in emergency medicine, Davis explained to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, that this kind of quick response is “hard-wired into you” and part of “who you are.”

After the incident, Dr. Davis and his family spent the rest of their last day decompressing and letting his three daughters to process what had happened. Then, they returned home to St. Louis, where Dr. Davis continues to treat severe injuries at Missouri Baptist Medical Center as an emergency room doctor.