When Called Upon In An Emergency

This is D on this post. Friday was an afternoon I'll never forget. As I was leaving school at the end of a long day, a colleague that I carpool with and I were walking out to the car to leave. We heard a screech of tires and a wump. My attention was quickly drawn to the street only to see one of our students being hit by a car. The force threw him on the hood, windshield, and ultimately on top of the car. As the car slowed from the intense braking, he was thrown forward off the car about 10 feet or so. (Later I found out he was skateboarding across the street and didn't see the car coming. From the sound of it, the car was going possibly 30-40 mph.) Immediately I sprinted over to the accident dropping my bag and coat in the parking lot (half wondering if my laptop was damaged in the drop.) As I reached the scene I realized it was one of my students, and he was screaming profanities in pain and confusion. There was blood all over his face and I swiftly directed my attention to his head to identify where the blood was coming from and to verify if his head had been damaged at all. I called for a cloth and eventually one of his friends pulled off their shirt and gave it to me. I was able to identify that a lot of blood was coming from his forehead where I put the cloth and pressure to stop the bleeding. I asked him if his head hurt, but he could only scream about his left leg. As he laid on the road both of his knees where bent up in the air. I grabbed his left leg, he screamed in pain as I tried to straighten it, and I saw the lower portion of his leg between his knee and ankle wobble left and right, and I knew that his tibia and fibula were completely fractured. So I went back to his head and I told him that his leg was broken and to not move it. His response was, "Will I be able to skateboard again?" I reassured him that he would; it would take some time to heal, possibly pins in his leg to stabilize his leg as it heals, and probably some rehab, but he would skate again. Soon thereafter we had two of our secretaries out there calling 911 and I was able to relay injury information to one of them. I found multiple lacerations on his face. He often would spit out blood and I asked him if he could tell whether he had any teeth loose or knocked out, but he couldn't tell. (Later I found out that he had a piece of glass stuck in his lip.) I tried to keep him calm and still until the paramedics arrived, holding his head, wiping blood away from his eyes, and getting blood on my hands. The police, paramedics, and fire department arrived about 10 minutes later and began to assess the situation. Naturally they put a neck brace on and used scissors to strip away some of his clothes to see if there was any damage to his neck, spine, and hips. He was scared and panicked and I had to explain everything they were doing to keep him calm. When they cut away the pant leg of the broken leg, the skin was warped where you could see the bone pushing against the skin. Since the EMT's had things in control, I took some pictures on my phone because I thought he might want to see what happened after he was calmed down. Two things that touched me the most was when he said, "Why did this have to happen?" I let him know that sometimes these things just happen, but that he would be fine. And then as the EMT's where preparing to put him in the ambulance, he said, "I'm scared," and his eyes welled up with potential tears. To see a tough punk kid overcome with emotional trauma was enough to touch anyone's heart. I encouraged him to be strong and hang in there until they got him to the hospital where they could relieve the pain. After he was put in the ambulance I took a look at the car that hit him. The bumper was broken where he was hit and the windshield was shattered with a grapefruit size hole through it. I went inside the school to wash my hands and console some of his friends, who were also former students of mine. They were also traumatized by the experience, one said he didn't even want to get on his skateboard at all. I didn't get to talk to the driver, but he looked about as traumatized as expected after hitting someone with a car.

On the way home, there was a lot of reflection on what happened. My colleague said that she was impressed with how quickly I reacted to the situation and took charge until paramedics arrived. I got thinking of how I've acquired those traits and I would have to give credit to my experience in the Boy Scouts of America. The training provided by the BSA program is centered around it's motto: Be Prepared. First aid is one of the first of many skills learned and is strongly emphasized. I've had so many great scoutmasters and leaders, but the most influential scout leader has been my father. He has always been there to teach me and prepare me for whatever may come. He was the one who helped me reach my rank of Eagle Scout and further my scouting experience. He even still guides me along as I am now the Scoutmaster in my ward and teach these boys even as I have been taught.

The rest of that day and night, the images of that experience replayed over and over in my head. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when I called him at the hospital to see how he was doing that my mind was put at ease. He confirmed that both his tibia and fibula had been broken and the doctor had to put rods in them to stabilize them as they heal. Other than that and a few stitches on his face, he was doing okay. He told me he looked down the street but didn't recall see any cars coming. Then the next thing he remembered was laying in the street looking up at me and hearing himself screaming a lot. I'm very grateful that I was at the right place at the right time to take care of him. I hope that all of us can live up to the Scout Motto and be prepared when called upon in an emergency.