Hurlburt Airmen aid local community members Published June 11, 2010 By Senir Airman Ryan Whitney 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- More than a dozen Hurlburt Airmen were on scene providing medical care to passengers just seconds after a pickup truck was struck by a garbage truck June 9 on Florida State Road 87. The Airmen, consisting of various aircrew personnel, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape specialists, and medical Airmen, were en route to conduct and support combat survival training when the accident occurred in front of them. "The lead vehicle driver pulled off to the side immediately and waved myself and Master Sgt. Rafael Garcia (1st Special Operations Support Squadron emergency medical technician) over to a demolished pickup truck," said Tech. Sgt. Alexandre Bueno, 1st SOSS surgery technician. "It was a pretty nasty accident, but the team we had on hand handled the situation and themselves great." As soon as they arrived, the team began assessing the situation by ensuring the area was safe and then went to work right away checking on those involved; an 18-year-old male, a 20-year-old female, and an infant. The infant, who was the only one properly restrained, made it out of the accident unscathed other than strap marks from the restraints on his shoulder. Sergeant Garcia said both adults in the truck were not properly restrained. The male only suffered lacerations and bruises, but the female passenger was in far worse shape. "We removed the infant and driver from the car, but the passenger's injuries and the damage to the vehicle made it harder for us to get her out, so we proceeded to treat her numerous injuries while taking precautions in case she had spinal injuries," he said. While this was going on, many of the aircrew and SERE members aided the medical Airmen by retrieving supplies from the vehicles, controlling the crowd that was gathering, and looking after the pickup driver and infant, so that the most medically proficient in attendance could focus their efforts on the more critically injured passenger. Shortly after stabilizing the girl, emergency responders arrived on scene, and aided the Airmen in extracting the girl by cutting the truck door and roof off with the Jaws of Life. "Working with the local emergency responders was a good experience, even if it was for something as tragic as this accident," Sergeant Garcia said. "These types of things happen, and to be able to respond and help people out, whether it's downrange, or in the local community, is a great asset." After all emergency response crews arrived and the passenger was removed from the vehicle, the girl was transported via helicopter and the driver and infant via ambulance to local medical facilities, and all were in stable condition. "Everything just kind of clicked; we didn't really have any second thoughts about what we were doing or who needed to be doing what, we were all just focused on helping these people in need," said Sergeant Bueno. "The work that the entire group did was incredible, and without them there this would have been a much harder job."