KaBoom!

We were doing our morning checks on the apparatus when we heard a big boom. Over the roar of the engine and power tools we didn't hear the screech of tires or the second crash. We peered around the corner of the station and could see one vehicle with moderate damage up against the utility pole and another vehicle in the middle of the intersection.

I ducked into the engine to grab some gloves and headed over to the wreckage. My engineer informed our captain and then pulled the engine around to block traffic in an attempt to make things a bit safer for us.

I stopped by the first vehicle I came to, the one up against the pole, and checked on the driver. She was a elderly woman that was shaken but did not appear to be injured. I then turned my attention to the car in the intersection. In the drivers seat sat a young woman young enough to make me wonder why she wasn't in school. She was complaining of head and neck pain.

About this time is when my engineer got big red in between the wrecked sedan and traffic. He jumped out and grabber the c-spine equipment. I grabbed a c-collar and directed him over to the other patient. the biggest problem with having an accident happen in front of your station is that there aren't enough EMS personnel to go around.

As soon as the first police officer showed up I had him help me with my patient (I'm sure there's a joke in there about cops wanting to be firemen but I'll let it slide this time). Soon we could here the truck coming from the next station over. Two minutes after their arrival we had an ambulance on scene, plenty of manpower, and a patient just about packaged to go get checked out.

These types of accidents really demonstrate how for passenger protection has come in vehicles. More than likely both patients that day were able to have lunch with friends and talk about their experience. 20 years ago a t-bone accident would have been a lot worse.