I had just laid Austin down for his morning nap and was beginning to go about my daily chores when there was a sudden explosion of mixed sounds. It was seriously so loud that my first thought was a bomb had gone off! I instantly thought of my baby and if that sound could have been anywhere near his room because it literally sounded like it had happened inside the house! Then I heard the car horn that was blaring without stopping and my second thought became, oh my gosh, there was a car accident and someone's head is laying on that steering wheel!
I instantly jumped into nurse mode and ran out the door to find a sight of blood, smoke, and twisted metal directly in front of our house! I went straight for the car that had the blaring horn to find an unconscious white male in a black Mustang. I assessed the situation and realized that there was gas leaking all over the pavement from this car and saw smoke coming from the hood. This car looked like it was going to blow up! I'm not going to lie, my first thought was of my baby and I almost left this man there in the car because I couldn't bare the thought of my son being raised without his mother. But then I knew I could never live with myself if I didn't do something to help him. So I opened the car door, unbuckled his seat belt, and basically started yelling at him to wake him up. Once he came to, I told him what was going on and that I needed to get him out of the car because there is gas leaking and who knows what will happen next! He was triple my size and was extremely unstable but I got him to the sidewalk where he collapsed. I was hoping he'd be able to make it further than that because we still weren't very far from the car but I figured that would just have to do. I got him assessed and stabilized and then ran over to the other car.
It was a white truck that had thrown all the Mexican construction workers that were piled into it out of the car when it rolled multiple times down the street. Their equipment that was piled in there with them was scattered all over the road and I couldn't believe that there weren't any fatalities! It was seriously a miracle. I had a harder time with these guys because only one of them spoke English and they all had head injuries so they were all really loopy and doing crazy things. I had my work cut out for me just trying to get them to lay down, or even sit down for that matter! That's all we needed was for someone to get up and pass out, causing further injuries. All around me was blood and people moaning. I kept looking around for help to arrive but it seriously took almost 15 minutes for a cop to even show up! What made it even more annoying was he showed up alone and was just wandering around asking stupid questions like, "What towing company do you go through?" Seriously?! This guy can't even remember his own name and you think he is going to spout off the name of a towing company?! I was not impressed..... AT...... ALL.....
Meanwhile, neighbors were all congregating around me and asking what they could do to help. #911 had already been called and since nobody else had any medical experience, all I could do was send them off to get water bottles and blankets to cushion the heads of the head injury victims. Where the heck were the Paramedics?!!
Finally a fire truck arrived, followed by one ambulance. REALLY?! ONE AMBULANCE? I specifically remember the person making the phone call to #911 stating that there were multiple people with serious injuries. Again, I was not impressed at all. I got so irritated while I watched those paramedics from that one ambulance slowly pull out their gurney and laugh/joke around while they slowly made their way up to the scene. I remember looking at the neighbor next to me and saying, "God forbid anything happens to me or my family if this is the way Henderson responds to emergencies!" On a side note, my sister has worked as an EMT and for the Fire Department and she told me that is very unusual and she can't believe they were "dicking around like that." Her words, not mine ;).
Once the paramedics decided to come take over they told us all to go back to the sidewalk and basically get out of their way. From there I talked with the neighbors and watched the clean up process begin. Of course, once things were being taken care of, three other police cars arrived. A little late guys....
So that's my story! It was so exhilarating and I was shaking from all the adrenaline (and still am)! It made me miss working sooooooo much. I miss taking charge in crazy situations and that high of confidence that suddenly flows through me. I went back to my quiet house and checked on my sleeping baby and felt grateful for the knowledge I possess to help in a horrific situation like that! Now I just pray that all the victims are okay and will be released from the hospital soon.
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