Pontiac was the right place at the right time for three Brandon firefighters recently.
Sgt./Medic Steve Pappas, Sgt./EMT Mike Atkins and Firefighter/Medic Aaron Cullotty were on their way back to Brandon Township after taking a patient to Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital when they were flagged down by a construction crew around 4:28 p.m., Oct. 10 on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue.
‘We were driving by and the whole crew was running to us,? says Pappas.
The matter was of extreme urgency? the asphalt paving crew had a worker who had just been run over by a Bobcat skid steerloader. The man’s leg had nearly been amputated in two places by the accident? just below the knee and just above the ankle.
The workers had called 9-1-1 and then saw the Brandon firefighters. Pontiac firefighters showed up just minutes later, but with the man already splinted, stabilized and given an IV in the Brandon ambulance, told the Brandon team, ‘Just go.? It was about 4:31 p.m., just three minutes after they had come upon the scene.
They returned to POH, and minutes later, the 35-year-old man was in surgery.
‘From the time we scooped him up until the time he was in surgery was less than 15 minutes,? says Pappas, who said that surprisingly, the blood loss wasn’t too bad, although the injury was pretty gruesome. He notes that it makes a big difference being two minutes from the hospital. From Brandon Township it is 20 minutes to any hospital.
Fire Chief Bob McArthur called it luck that the Brandon firefighters were there. Pappas agreed.
‘It’s not our normal route,? he said. ‘We were avoiding the freeway because of rush hour.?
Amazingly, he adds, the injured man is expected to make a full recovery.