09/29/2026
🚨 A MONDAY WE WILL NEVER FORGET — WHY TRAUMA TRAINING MATTERS IN A MEAT PROCESSING PLANT HELL AT ANY BUSINESS 🚨
We have had some pretty scary accidents at A&M Meat Processing over the years.
Anthony has stabbed himself in the abdomen and required emergency surgery. Then, months later, he crushed his foot in a skid steer and nearly lost his life.
But Monday was different.
We were slaughtering fair animals when Mark Fambrough, was seriously injured with a slaughter knife.
The knife went through his arm FROM WRIST TOWARDS HIS ELBOW all the way to the bone and hit an artery.
Mark looked over at Michelle and pulled his hand away from his arm as he went to the ground. She immediately realized how serious the bleeding was and jumped in pinching off the artery and held his arm together.
Anthony grabbed a belt and a steel and made a tourniquet.
Aaron ran to get the first-aid kit.
Cody called 911.
Michelle and Aaron worked to control the bleeding and keep Mark from bleeding out while Anthony maintained the tourniquet.
And then we waited.
More than 20 minutes for the ambulance.
Those 20 minutes felt like an eternity.
That was when we realized something very important:
🩸 OUR REGULAR FIRST-AID KITS ARE NOT ENOUGH.
A regular first-aid kit is not designed for the kind of catastrophic bleeding that can happen in a meat processing facility.
We need a real trauma/bleeding-control kit—something similar to what EMTs, first responders, and military personnel carry.
We already wear chain-metal protective equipment because of Anthony’s previous accident. We use cut-resistant gloves, and now we will be adding cut-resistant sleeves as another layer of protection.
But PPE isn’t enough.
You have to be prepared for what happens when something goes wrong. A couple weeks ago Rufino got kicked in the face in the eye by a dead cow. You can’t predict that.
Mark had emergency surgery yesterday. He is home now, very sore and resting. The doctors will determine how much use and function he has and whether another surgery will be necessary.
We are incredibly thankful that he is home.
❤️ A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR TEAM
I want to recognize some people who stepped up during one of the most frightening situations our plant has ever experienced.
Thank you to our USDA Inspector, Richard Luna.
While we were focused on taking care of Mark, Richard helped guide the rest of our employees through what needed to happen and helped make sure everyone understood what needed to be done to keep our product safe. He helped get the ambulance waved down.
Richard, thank you for stepping up when we needed you. We truly appreciate you.
And thank you to our Crew Leader, Scott Bramblett.
Scott helped keep everyone focused and grounded while everything was happening.
Watching a coworker get seriously injured is traumatic. Every person standing there had to deal with the realization that it could have been them.
Scott helped keep our crew together and focused instead of allowing the emotional trauma of the situation to take over.
And to Michelle, Anthony, Aaron, and Cody—thank you for immediately jumping into action and doing what needed to be done. Michelle and Aaron was not afraid and held marks arm together and from bleeding out. Cody called 911 and ran to the highway to make sure they didn’t miss the turn. Anthony had known how to make a tourniquet out of his belt and where to place it.
Everyone had a role.
Everyone stepped up.
And everyone worked together.
THAT’S WHAT FAMILY DOES. ❤️
Our employees aren’t just employees to us.
They are family.
Some of them are actually family.
And Monday reminded us just how quickly something can happen in this industry.
Meat processing is extremely dangerous.
Knives are sharp.
Equipment is powerful.
Animals are unpredictable.
Machinery is unforgiving.
And an accident can happen in a matter of seconds.
You can do everything right and still have something go wrong.
That’s why we are going to do better.
We’re going to improve our trauma supplies. Because when Aaron opened that big box and Michelle realized nothing in there was going to help with the situation they was in.
We’re going to add more protective equipment.
And after game season, we want to bring in someone who can train our entire crew in trauma and bleeding control.
🩸 WE ARE ASKING FOR HELP
If there are any EMTs, paramedics, firefighters, military medics, nurses, or experienced first responders who would be willing to help us put together the proper trauma kit for a meat processing facility, I will gladly pay for the kit and supplies.
If you’re willing to come train our crew after game season, we would love to have you.
We want to take something terrifying that happened to our family and turn it into something that could potentially save someone else’s life.
Because when an accident like this happens, you don’t have time to Google what to do.
You have seconds to react and minutes tell they are gone.
Please don’t wait until something happens at your business to figure out whether you’re prepared.
Look at your first-aid kit.
Look at your PPE.
Look at your emergency procedures.
And ask yourself:
“If one of my employees suffered a life-threatening injury right now, would we know what to do, would we have the right equipment to deal with it?”
We learned the hard way that we need to be better prepared and that a basic business first aid kit is not appropriate for a meat processing facility.
❤️ AND MOST IMPORTANTLY—MARK.
You scared the absolute hell out of all of us.
We’re so thankful you’re alive.
We’re thankful you’re home.
Now your only job is to REST, HEAL, AND GET BETTER.
We love you, Mark. ❤️
And to our entire A&M crew:
I’m proud of every single one of you.
Monday was terrifying, but watching everyone come together, take care of one another, and do what needed to be done reminded me exactly why this isn’t just a business.
This is family. ❤️
