The ‘back way’ home

We rarely go the back way to our house. We did today, though, and maybe the universe meant for that to happen. Driving home from downtown we got flagged down by a truck on the side of the road. The man looked frantic and trying to help someone in the passenger seat.

We quickly backed up to help. I ran to the truck and found the man’s son, who is autistic, having a grand mal seizure. I helped his dad get him out of the truck and on the ground in recovery position. He was hypoxic when we got there and barely breathing. We got him stabilized as best we could in the cold and he started breathing again. My wife called 911 and we stayed with him until the ambulance arrived. It was freezing cold out; we got out our OD wool blanket from the cold weather kit in our car and kept him warm. Wind chills were around 17F (-8c).

The 911 dispatcher kept asking if I was medical based on the report I was giving him, I guess that knowledge is still tucked away in my head. We waited for the ambulance to come and get him the medical care he needed.

Hopefully he’s ok.

The blanket I had tucked away in my wife’s car was a real game changer. Laying on the freezing ground your body loses heat at a rapid rate. With that blanket we were able to keep his core temp up.

#Goodsamaritan #emt #helpingpeople #preparedness #ISZ