Paramedic Tate Rodriguez

Please tell this officer’s story of how they saved a life or showed exemplary service in the field.

Tato “Tate” Rodriguez is an in charge paramedic for Cypress Creek EMS. Tate is a stellar example of what we strive for each of our medics to be. He is constantly striving to further his EMS education, most recently by attending a flight paramedic program.
On August 7th 2021, Tate was dispatched to a hemorrhage call. These calls can range from a few drops of blood to someone actively bleeding out.
Upon his arrival to the scene he made contact with the Patient’s family who explained the patient’s extensive medical history and what had been going on with the patient in the last few days.
After a quick assessment and vitals it was found that the patient was extremely hypotensive, meaning their blood pressure was dangerously low. This put the patient in a status we call “peri-arrest”. This means that the patient’s body is doing everything it can to stay alive, but that it is close to the body shutting down and going into cardiac arrest.
Tate was able to recognize the impending arrest and get a supervisor enroute to his location. Cypress Creek EMS has the privilege of carrying whole blood on their supervisor vehicles for situations just like this one. Our District 52 supervisor, Joe Kiff, arrived on scene and began getting set up in the ambulance as Tate and his crew brought the patient out.
Tate was able to establish an IV and an IO which is a procedure we use to give fluid, blood in this case, directly into the bone of the patient. With blood and fluid being transfused, Tate and his crew began their transport to the hospital.
Tate again recognized how dynamic the situation was and that any changes could bring the impending cardiac arrest. While enroute to the hospital, the patient entered cardiac arrest.
Tate immediately recognized this and Tate and is partner began CPR on the patient. They were able to get what we call ROSC or return of spontaneous circulation, which is a fancy way of saying the patient’s heart began beating again and blood began to circulate in the body. She would go into cardiac arrest again and Tate and his crew would be able to get her back again with her waking up fully before they got to the emergency room.
Tate’s actions and that of his crew helped to bring their patient back from the brink of death and get her to definitive care at the hospital.
This is the standard of excellence expected of all of our crews at Cypress Creek EMS. Tate is just one example of the many fine paramedics and EMT’s at our service.