Published: February 08, 2011
Soldiers Help to Save Civilian's Life
By Sgt. John Crosby, Indiana Joint Forces Headquarters Public Affairs
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana National Guard Soldiers assisted Delaware County Emergency Medical Services in saving the life of a critically ill woman during the blizzard last week.
Delaware County was declared a "state of emergency" as two storm fronts blanketed central Indiana in several inches of ice and up to 20 inches of snow in parts of northern Indiana.
More than 1,000 Indiana Guardsmen responded statewide and worked with civil authorities to return the state to a level of normalcy. Guard members provided on-call assistance to local police and fire departments that rescued stranded motorists, transported citizens to shelters and assisted civilian emergency medical technicians.
National Guard Petroleum Supply Specialist Spc. Blake Pyke from Tipton, Ind., and Truck Driver Sgt. Christopher Ladner of Ft. Wayne, Ind., both in Company A, 113th Brigade Support Battalion, headquartered in Muncie, Ind., both responded to a call for a assistance by Delaware County Emergency Medical Services, helping to save the life of a woman in respiratory arrest. |
This was the case Wednesday, when Sgt. Christopher Ladner of Ft. Wayne, Ind., and Spc. Blake Pyke from Tipton, Ind., both in Company A, 113th Brigade Support Battalion, headquartered in Muncie, Ind., responded to a call from Delaware County EMS. A call requesting medical assistance for a woman with difficulty breathing was received at 8:15 p.m.
"This mission was different from the rest of the calls we had because in this mission, time was of the essence," said Ladner, a truck driver with the unit. "Our main concern was getting there in time and how we would be utilized by the EMTs."
Pushing through the snow and ice, Ladner and Pyke cleared the way with a four-wheel drive Humvee for paramedics trailing in an ambulance. They arrived on the scene at 8:25 p.m. with Paramedics Rick Scott and Jim Culberson.
"We arrived to the woman, about 50 years of age, she was in cardiac arrest," said Pyke. "By the time we arrived, she was blue in color and unresponsive."
Both paramedics quickly went to work on the woman and the Soldiers grabbed a cot to transport her. Ladner returned to the Humvee, again leading the way and cutting tracks through the treacherous ice. Pyke, a Company A petroleum supply specialist, drove the ambulance so the paramedics could focus on the patient.
The woman was transported to the hospital in under 20 minutes later. Ultimately, the woman was resuscitated, thanks to the swift work of the EMTs and Soldiers.
"I now have a greater appreciation for what these men and women do every day," said Ladner, referring to the paramedics. "It is one thing to hear the stories of their heroism but being able to see it firsthand really opened my eyes to the importance of our emergency medical units." The appreciation went both ways.
"They came in, they worked right into our system," Culberson said to reporters of the Star Press. "We commented how smoothly things went. They flowed right into it without any problems whatsoever. It worked out perfectly that these guys were there. We thanked them up one side and down the other."
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