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Show First response vehicle helped save lives Witnesses of the extrication efforts ef-forts of the Pleasant Grove First Response team to remove an injured teenager from a wrecked car in American Fork Canyon Wednesday night had nothing but compliments to give. Several people who stopped to give assistance, as well as hospital personnel, commended the work of Je trained Emergency Medical crew. Dave Vickers, Director of s Emergency Medical Services for j pleasant Grove and full-time First Response person, said that the first 1 thing he did when he arrived on the . scene of the accident, which took the s lifeof one girl and injured two others critically, was to set up the generator to bathe-the entire area in ) light. j He noted that at first those at the scene were upset that he set up the t lights before he attended to the ( victim pinned in the car. He said that after he turned on the lights the it people could understand why he took :j the few moments to do it. I( Two males who had been in the car had already been removed from the lS vehicle and were being taken care of s by those on the scene. j Dave said he then did a medical i assessment of Corey Gentry, the one ii pinned in the vehicle. He searched or uncontrolled bleeding and could iS find none. if The door was opened so that there nr. would be more working space and the back seat was removed. By this time the ambulance crew had arrived and Gary Norton came to help Dave while Sally Randall and Antta Hardy treated the two injured Gary assisted Dave in forcing over them to have clear access to Corey Dave said that the river was running through the upside down car and Corey was part way into the river Gary went through the back window and got on the left side of Corey. Dave was on the right side. Dave said he talked to Corey all the time to keep her conscious. Pleasant Grove Police Chief Mike Ferre had talked to her until then to keep her calm. Chief Ferre had helped Dave put the extrication collar on the victim earlier. The Chief kept her head straight in line with her body while Dave and Gary supported her onto a back board. Gary and Dave straightened her legs and removed them from around the steering wheel while the Chief kept her head straight as they lifted her out of the car on the back board. In the meantime, Sally had had to take lifesaving measures on the driver of the car who was critically injured. The two men were sent to the American Fork Hospital in the American Fork Ambulance which had arrived on the scene. Corey was taken in the Pleasant Grove Ambulance and the backup P. G. Ambulance came to take the body of the deceased to the hospital. Dave said that even if this was to be the only time the Rescue Truck was ever used, it paid for itself that night. The director emphatically stated that the way the police and ambulance am-bulance personnel worked together made the whole difference in the rescue efforts. He said that no matter what he asked people to do they did it without any questions asked. He said the EMT's had all the help they needed and did not have to worry about keeping Corey's head straight while she was removed from the car. The expressed his appreciation to the American Fork Crews, the Pleasant Grove police and Highway Patrol Troopers, and bystanders for their help. It was just over a month ago that Pleasant Grove Ambulance personnel per-sonnel and some from American Fork participated in a two-day extrication workshop. The things they learned then were put to good use as they were able to removed the critically injured girl without doing further damage. Some bystanders remarked that their first instincts had been to remove her from the overturned vehicle, but they were grateful they had waited for professional help as they might have caused further injury by moving her. But that was not the end of it that night for the First Response and Ambulance crews. While one ambulance am-bulance had been used to take Corey to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, the call came through of another medical emergency in Pleasant Grove. Without hesitation the EMT's were on their way again. |