Off-Duty Mother-Daughter Nurses Use Belt to Save Trooper’s Life After Shooting
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A mother-daughter nursing duo sprang into action during a family vacation, saving a Kentucky State Trooper who was shot during a traffic stop.
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With no medical supplies, they improvised a life-saving tourniquet using a belt to stop severe bleeding until paramedics arrived.
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Their quick thinking and calm under pressure earned them Kentucky’s highest civilian honor and national recognition for their heroism.
When Kentucky State Trooper Jude Remilien was shot during a traffic stop outside Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport, help came from an unexpected and nurse-powered source: two off-duty nurses enjoying a family vacation.
Jessica Alexander and her daughter Taylor Hall, both registered nurses, were driving when they stumbled upon Trooper Remilien lying in the grass, bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his leg. What they did next, captured on body-camera footage, earned them Kentucky’s highest civilian honor and their response highlighted how nursing skills can save lives even off the clock.
When Nurses Improvise: A Tourniquet Made from a Belt
According to Kentucky State Police (KSP), Trooper Remilien was ambushed on July 13, 2025, during what began as a routine traffic stop. A passenger in the pulled-over pickup truck opened fire, shooting Remilien in the leg. As the suspect fled, body-camera footage showed the trooper crawling to safety, leaving a trail of blood behind.
Jessica and Taylor, along with Jessica’s husband Jimmy Alexander, arrived on the scene just moments later. It didn’t take them long to realize this was serious. “The grass was just completely covered in blood,” Jessica said in interviews afterward. “We knew right away we had to stop the bleeding.”
Without a medical kit on hand—because who typically packs gauze and tourniquets for a family road trip? The nurses had to get creative. They grabbed Jimmy’s belt to act as a makeshift tourniquet and got to work. Taylor applied pressure to the wound while Jessica monitored pulses and kept Trooper Remilien engaged with steady conversation.
“Stay with me,” one of them said, as caught on camera. “Look at me, what’s your name?”
That might sound simple, but nurses know better: keeping trauma victims alert and talking can help fend off shock, a dangerous complication of severe blood loss.
Soon, Officer Adam Arnold arrived with a medical-grade tourniquet, reinforcing their work until paramedics took over. Together, Jessica, Taylor, Jimmy, and Officer Arnold formed an impromptu but life-saving team that kept the trooper alive. Thanks to their quick thinking, Trooper Remilien has since recovered from his injuries.
Stop the Bleed (Even Without Your Favorite Trauma Kit)
If there’s one thing this story drives home, it’s the importance of knowing how to control bleeding and the power of teamwork. According to the American College of Surgeons, uncontrolled bleeding is one of the leading causes of preventable death in trauma situations. In fact, about 35% of pre-hospital deaths and 40% of deaths within the first 24 hours after injury are due to hemorrhage.
Here’s the kicker: those first few minutes after an injury are the most critical. Nurses, with their training and calm-under-pressure attitudes, are uniquely equipped to step up in these moments, even when resources are slim. Jessica and Taylor didn’t have sterile gauze or trauma shears, but they had the knowledge and determination to act fast.
Stop the Bleed, a national campaign launched in 2015, aims to prepare bystanders for bleeding emergencies just like this. The program teaches basic techniques like applying direct pressure, packing wounds, and using tourniquets. According to the National Library of Medicine, proper tourniquet application can cut mortality rates by up to 57% for patients with life-threatening limb injuries.
For nurses, this is a reminder that your skills don’t clock out when you do. Whether you're working a shift, headed to the beach, or sitting in traffic, knowing how to improvise can be the difference between life and death.
Recognizing Nursing Instincts in Action
In October, Jessica, Taylor, Jimmy Alexander, and Officer Arnold were honored for their actions with Kentucky’s Citation for Meritorious Achievement, the state’s highest civilian award. They were also named Kentucky Colonels, a recognition for distinguished service.
KSP Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. praised their bravery, saying, “Their actions embody the selflessness and quick thinking that define our best public servants and healthcare professionals.”
Jessica and Taylor’s response is a shining example of the readiness nurses carry everywhere they go. As the American Nurses Association points out, there are more than 4 million registered nurses in the United States. That makes nurses one of the largest groups of potential first responders in emergencies outside the hospital.
So, next time you’re packing for a road trip, maybe throw a tourniquet in your bag or at least remember Jimmy’s belt trick. Because whether you’re on vacation or just running errands, nursing instincts have a way of kicking in when the unexpected happens.
Jessica and Taylor’s actions remind us what it truly means to be a nurse—calm in the chaos, steady in the storm, and guided by compassion when every second counts. We care deeply, we think fast, and when it comes down to it, we’ll give whatever we have, even a favorite belt, to keep someone alive.
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