Sparky-Watts
Banned
So, yesterday morning, I was going out to the Jeep to grab my cigs when the Police Chief came flying by. He saw me, slammed on his brakes, and squealed the tires in reverse up into the drive. He yelled, "Get in!" I know I must've had a mix of puzzlement and fear in the look I shot back at him, so he said it again, only with a few expletives thrown in for effect. So, I hopped in the passenger side. As we pulled out into the street, I could see the train stopped across the road a block south of my house and knew immediately what he wanted me for. I had retired from EMS in 2000, but everyone in town still comes to me for help, since I was the only paramedic in town. We got to the crossing and he started driving along the tracks to the NW. After about 400 yds or so, we found the car....wedged completely under a tanker full of grain alcohol, the roof sheared off, the woman driver unresponsive. My first concern was the tanker full of highly flammable grain alcohol. We both backed off and waited for the fire department to get there. Fortunately the tanker was intact, not leaking. By then the EMS crew from our town and from Sedgwick County were both on scene, so I stepped back and let them do their jobs. By the time they got her loaded on the spine board and into the ambulance, she was alert and talking to them. She had massive face and head trauma, but I was more concerned by her low blood pressure. I wanted so bad to jump in there and get the two large-bore IV's started, fearing she was bleeding out internally. They hauled her the few blocks across town to the ball diamonds at the grade school where the air ambulance was already waiting. 12 minutes later, they'd made the flight to Wichita (25 miles away) and were already in the trauma room with her. I don't know how she's doing, but it stayed on my mind all day yesterday. I had to call my mom and tell her, because the woman worked for my mom at the nursing home here in town. The crossing is only marked by reflective cross-bucks, and the train was pulling a string of black tankers. It was around 5:30am, so it was dark and she just never even saw the cars......
......sometimes I wish I'd never even been a paramedic in a small town.
......sometimes I wish I'd never even been a paramedic in a small town.