Newly approved plant-based gel saves firefighter’s severed hand after accident

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SC (WOLO) –When an accident left local volunteer firefighter Casey Bolin with a deeply severed hand, First Responders used a new plant-based gel to stop the bleeding.

A volunteer firefighter with the North Volunteer Fire Department with Orangeburg County Fire District, Casey says he was using a saw to build a wooden swing for Renleigh, his 8-month-old granddaughter, when his life quickly changed.

“The wood hit a knot or something, it happened so quick, I really don’t know what happened,” he says.

The accident left Casey’s hand slashed open, with three broken bones, and four separated tendons.

“It was pretty much hanging off, I had to hold my hand up to put my hand back in place,” he says.

When EMS and fellow firefighters with arrived, Casey says they initially placed a tourniquet on his arm to stop blood flow. But too much of a pause could’ve left Casey without permanent use of his hand, says Orangeburg County EMS Training Captain Jeff Elian.

“Due to him having a significant injury to his hand, and knowing a tourniquet had been placed, restoring blood flow to that injured hand, while still maintaining bleeding control became the priority,” says Jeff.

A new plant-based gel called Traumagel was placed on Casey’s hand — stopping the bleeding within seconds.

“I’ve done a lot of cool things in my career as a paramedic, for almost 15 years, and this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,” says Jeff.

Paramedics with Orangeburg County EMS had just been trained on Traumagel a week before Casey’s accident, and had just received inventory on the product the day before.

Divine timing, according to Casey — and a moment 15 years in the making according to Traumagel’s inventor, Joe Landolina, who created the gel as a chemical engineering student.

“I was playing around in a lab and I found a material that came from algae or seaweed that would stick to my skin and wouldn’t let go until I wanted it to, and so I thought what if you could inject that into a bullet wound and at least stabilize a patient from Point A to Point B. That’s not exactly what we do today but we founded the company based on that and 15 years later we’re in the market saving lives,” says Landolina.

The FDA approved Traumagel last year, and on August 27th, Casey became the 1st person in SC for the gel to be used on — with 90% usage of his hand expected to return.

“Thank God for putting everybody in my life that day. And hopefully now, I can continue my career and doing things with my family and holding my grandbaby again,” he says.