Kids in the Creek

I believe the year was 1997 - I will research soon to find out exactly.

While returning from another call, one of our neighboring agencies was dispatched to an MVC, vehicle in the creek, children pinned. Shortly thereafter, our agency was paged mutual aid. We were on the beltline enroute back from RCH (DHR now) and they called and asked us to respond as well. As we approached the scene, the incident commander said, "prepare to intubate upon arrival, we have 4 pediatric trauma codes." At this point, I remember driving down the center yellow line and cars falling off of each side of the road. We arrive and find my dear former preceptor Becky doing mouth-to-mouth on a child and another guy Terry doing chest compressions (there weren't enough BVM's to go around until more units got there).

So you ask, what happened? A lady and her children, along with a child she was babysitting, ran off of a winding country road into a creek. This was either January or February. So, did the 4 children retrieved from the creek suffer cardiac arrest from blount trauma - or was it cold water drowning? To be honest, I think it was a mixture. My patient had an obvious head injury. Some of the others did not have obvious injuries - so we honestly didn't know. We worked all of them until they were at hospitals and were warm and dead - or revived.

Now - what did we do? Well, remember back then, we did not have consistent paramedic coverage county-wide, so the first-in unit was an EMT-I level unit. Our agency was on the 2nd in unit and was Paramedic level, and I was returning from a 2nd duty call and was an EMT-I. Paramedic intercepts were dispatched from all over Johnston County to assist as well. Back then, trauma care and "appropriate facility" weren't nearly what they are today. 3 of the children were transported to a trauma center and one was transported to a community hospital. Guess what the outcome was? The one who went to the community hospital on an EMT-I level ambulance was the lone survivor! That child received warm NG lavages and aggressive warming - and survived. It was also likely that this patient was the victim of cold water drowning and not trauma.

Now - the heroism that day was ever so present! The first arriving EMT-I jumped into the water to begin rescuing kids, and 2 deputy sheriff's were in the water rescuing the kids who were trapped in the vehicle in the water. Several volunteer firefighters also jumped in this freezing water - including one firefighter who was transported for hypothermia.

Everyone on the scene that day pulled together and worked as a team. There were no boundaries, district lines, or arguments. I will never forget pulling up and seeing veteran EMT personnel doing mouth to mouth because there weren't enough BVM's to go around. This is what heroes are made of! I am proud to have been there that day. My patient did not survive, but the lessons learned were paramount.

That was one of the first times as a young ALS professional that I realized that superior BLS and non-paramedic care is what truly saves lives. I also learned that you can have compassion and be in EMS. I saw my heroes crying as they did mouth to mouth on lifeless children - yet they kept their composure and did an outstanding job. It is ok to care, it is ok to cry - but the show must go on. Remember, early rescue squads began as neighbor helping neighbor. My father knew at least 50% of the patients he transported if not 75% yet he did a great job and didn't break down on every call. It seems like today if a provider treats someone they know, it almost incapacitates them and becomes "dramatic." Think of our predecessors and how the principle of neighbor helping neighbor is one of the foundations of rural EMS. Always remember, this could be your next call!