By The Castle
Locale: rural two-lane state highway
Type of call: mutual aid, report of two vehicles, head on
� If you do any type of regular mutual aid, you know that there are certain landmarks which, once passed, mean that you are probably NOT going to get cancelled.
� Aunt Myra's Corner is one such landmark. As we passed it, I said to the driver, "Oh ..." He nodded, intent on the road.
� Then, over the radio, our chief asked us to pull up behind the other town's rescue. Again, the driver and I changed glances, and our tension increased, adrenalin increasing as we neared the scene.
� I was asked by the officer up on the road to go down to the first vehicle, the one that had been hit. (The car that had caused the accident was 1/4 mile further down the road.) Arriving down in the ditch at the first vehicle, I found CPR in progress. Several people were there, and I was not needed, so I climbed the hill and approached the PD unit where the driver was sitting. Another EMT was with the woman, and asked if I knew her. In the dark, and with her injuries, I didn't recognize her.
� She looked at me and said, "It's ***".
� When she told me who was in the car with her, I went to the officer up on the road, and told him to find our captain - NOW. When he asked why, I told him that his grandmother was the trauma code.
� Her grandson was on the rig that was coming in to pick up the driver of the car that had caused the accident. He'd gone to school with that woman. We caught him in time, thank God. But knowing what kind of person he is, he would have treated that woman to the best of his ability.
� As I've said, one of the hazards of living in a place like this is knowing a majority of the people for whom we respond.
� Grandma, we'll miss you. ***, we forgive you.