Watertown Fire Chief: Firefighters Helped Save Injured MBTA Officer

In a letter posted on Watertown Patch, Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio offered information on the hectic events of Thursday Night and Friday, including how department firefighters helped in the rescue of MBTA Officer Richard Donohue Jr. 

Donohue, 33, of Woburn, was wounded in a shoot-out with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. He is currently at Mount Auburn Hospital. In a press conference on Sunday, Dr. David Miller said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the officer's recovery.

Doctors said Donohue was shot through the anterior thigh and there was an entrance wound and no exit wound, meaning the bullet remains in the leg. Dr. Russell Nauta said that there were no fractures and partial transection of three out of the four blood vessels that are in the leg. "There was bleeding from the wound that led to cardiac arrest at the scene."

The situation of the officer could be worse if not for the fast work of the Watertown Fire Department, Chief Orangio said in his letter. In it he details the work of the department, including the staging of EMS units, providing protection to bomb squads, assisting crime scene recovery teams and providing protection at the landing zone set up for the National Guard Blackhawk helicopters. He emphasized that one of the most important thing his department was able to do during the chaos was help in the rescue of Donohue.

"Most importantly, I must emphasize the importance of the actions of our rescue company during the gun battle Friday morning. Firefighters Patrick Menton and James Caruso drove our rescue (truck) into an active shooting scene to get to Transit Police Officer Richard Donahue who lay gravely injured and pulseless from a gunshot wound to his leg that severed a major artery. They did so without hesitation or the benefit of bulletproof vests and weapons of their own.

"They quickly assessed Officer Donahue's condition, applied immediate care to stop his bleeding, performed effective CPR and most importantly made the life saving decision to rapidly extricate and transport him to the nearest hospital. Other than Officer Donahue's own incredible will to live, the actions of Firefighers Menton and Caruso are the reason that he survived. Although tempered by the losses suffered by other responding agencies, I am pleased to report that no Watertown Firefighters were injured during this incident and that each member was able to safely return home to their families at the conclusion of their tours of duty."

Read the full letter on Watertown Patch. 

A website was recently created by the MBTA Transit Police Benevolent Fund where people can make a donation to help Donohue, according to the transit police blog.