Caught in pileup, AF nurse puts skills to use

[unhappycamper]

Rescue crews and Air Force Maj. Randy McBay worked more than eight hours Dec. 22 to save lives and clean up during a fatal accident that occurred in a blizzard near Topeka, Kan.


Caught in pileup, AF nurse puts skills to use
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Jan 3, 2008 12:05:46 EST

Snow and holiday traffic are a dangerous combination, but rarely do they create the chaos witnessed by Maj. Randy McBay. Three days before Christmas, the Air Force operating room nurse found himself in the middle of a 32-car pileup on Interstate 70, according to the Air Force.

McBay was returning to San Antonio’s Wilford Hall Medical Center from a two-month combat skills life-saving course at Fort Riley, Kan., on Dec. 22. In whiteout conditions, a car traveling on I-70 hit an 18-wheeler and the bus that McBay and other airmen were traveling in, creating a massive roadblock that grew as more helpless vehicle slammed in.

“At first, I felt so helpless,” McBay said. “We were trapped in a bus with a bird’s-eye view of this horrible accident ... watching people get hit by cars.

“I saw one guy get out of his car and another car came plowing into him and he flew up in the sky,” he said. “It was like watching a movie.”

Fortunately, there were two other nurses and three medics on the bus along with various other airmen, who sprang into action to help the accident victims. McBay led a six-person team to bring wounded motorists back onto the bus, where the airmen went to work with the bus’ first-aid kit and whatever else was available.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/01/airforce_kansas_pileup_080103w/

[liberalnurse]

1. I salute you Major McBay.

What a dynamic leader in a time of fear and trauma. Being a Nurse is just one of your gifted skills.O8)