You Never Know When CERT Training Will Be Needed

You Never Know When CERT Training Will Be Needed
Cathy

From our friend Rusty, an early Martinez CERT member who recently moved away:

What a Friday night! We were finishing up after dinner when a frantic ring at our door bell caused me to rush out. A lady from next door was yelling for help! A fellow who had brain surgery a short time ago had taken his three children on a walk up the hill here, and apparently he collapsed in the middle of the street. The stroller with his two littlest children was rolling away downhill. Fortunately the stroller hit the curb and it turned over with children in it. The man hit is face and head on the pavement, with blood everywhere—coming from his scalp. He was trying to move, to get his sandals on.

I did a complete check for broken bones but the man was incoherent. He did not know his name and was desperately trying to stand up. I knew there were no broken bones in his extremities but he could not standup. He was moving his head left to right, so that told me his neck was not injured. I kept him on the pavement and had his back against my lower legs. My partner called 911. The man’s children were crying and the next door lady was trying to keep them under control. I think the first thing she did was get the stroller upright where the kids were strapped in. Thank goodness there was a curb there as the stroller could have gone down a 20 foot gully.

I kept reassuring him everything would be OK. I kept him with his head up but sitting on the street pavement. Finally in about ten minutes the Fire Department Ambulance and Police arrived. When he was in the ambulance I kept his attention and gave him a thumbs up and he saw me and responded. I was worried that his hitting his head on the pavement with recent brain surgery…he is not out of the woods. It could have been a blood clot that caused his collapse.

The Fire Department thanked me for all my help, keeping him secure. I told them of my CERT training in Martinez…this really paid off tonight! Thank goodness. It was a chaotic situation in the middle of Wrights Creek Dr.

Thanks to all my CERT training, the situation was stabilized in a very fast way and he is on his way to the hospital.