Well have you? I have, Today we woke up in Memphis having gone to the Sweet 16 last night. We had plans to go to the NHL game in Nashville, a 3 hour trip. We get in the car and and as soon as we got on the interstate, we saw a Semi going the other direction swerve into the center divider, bounce off, flip on its side and skid about 100 yards to a stop. I stopped and as soon as I could get the car in park I jumped out and over the center divide to see what I could do to help. There was a black SUV that had been run over by the back tires of the Semi's trailer. I saw that the driver of the SUV already had several people at his vehicle helping, and i could see him moving around inside. so I turned and sprinted the 100 yards to where the Semi was. As I came up to the Semi I smelled the distinct smell of diesel fuel. Looking to see where it was coming from I saw that the fuel tank was ripped ad the fuel was pouring onto the engine block. Knowing that the truck could burst into flames at any second, I climbed up onto the passenger side of the truck to see if I could open the passenger side door(the truck was lying on the driver side door. The door was locked, but I could see the driver of the truck, and could tell that he was unconscious. After trying without any success to kick in the window of the door, I noticed that the sleeper part of the cab had broken and separated from the front of the cab. By this time another man had arrived and started to help, with his help, he and I pulled the sleeper away from the front of the cab and I climbed into the truck. The driver's left arm was pinned under the dashboard. I could pry the dash away enough to get his arm out, but it took all I had, and there was no way that I could move the driver and the dash at the same time. So I focused on waking the driver, I applied a sternum rub, and the driver woke up, looked at me like, what are you doing in my bedroom, then passed out again. After a little coaching, he woke up enough to pull his arm out while I pulled the dash back. he then got up and got out of the truck on his own. As soon as he was out I start to assess his injuries, Looking for blood and broken bones, he had none. I told a woman standing by to stay with him and make sure that he does not go to sleep what ever he does. I ran to the SUV to see if the driver needed any help. Some men had pulled him out and had him laying on the ground. I could tell right away that he was in a lot worse shape then the driver of the Semi. He had blood all over him from cuts from glass, but as I felt his abdomen It was hard to the touch, That is a sign of internal bleeding. At this point the police start to show up with the paramedics right behind, I tell the first on scene officer all that I could as quickly as I could.(I used the army method of assessing a causality) the paramedic looked at me with a kind of surprised look on his face and said thanks, and went to right to work working on the driver of the SUV. The medics loaded the driver of the SUV into the ambulance and as they did I saw them get a chest tube ready. More Paramedics show up and start treating to driver of the Semi. At this point I knew that I was more in the way then I was helping, so I backed off and waited to give my statement. When the second ambulance took off with the driver of the Semi another medic came over to ask me how I knew to give the information that they needed, and how I had assessed both drivers before I got there. I told him that I was in the army and that I am certified in the Army's EMS program. He then told me that because I had caught the internal bleeding I had given the driver of the SUV a "fighting chance" and that because I woke the driver, they could tell right away that he had a major concussion, and that they needed to get him to the hospital right away. Both the driver of the SUV and the driver of the Semi went to the hospital in Critical Condition, and the medics were confidant that both would make it. I then gave the Sheriff my contact information, and we continued onto Nashville.

28 March 2009
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4 comments:
Hero!!! Good for you for keeping your cool. I've been trained in first aid and CPR too (plus my dad has been a scout master since before I was born!). It's nice to have all things come to memory just when you need them.
Wow how scary! How impressive! It must feel really good to be able to help people in need like that. You win the key to the city! :)
holy crap that is amazing!!!!! i always wanted to think that i could remain calm in that kind of a situation but i think i would have ended up running around screaming or just standing there sobbing.
Wow! That's so good that you were in a position to help those men! Good job!
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