They were either dead or dying, but only one could be saved. With nobody else around, he had to choose.
"It was the hardest decision of my life," said Swanson on Wednesday. "But we're trained to treat the most serious injuries and work from there. The boy and one girl had no vitals, no pulse and they weren't breathing.
"The other girl had a very faint pulse and was barely breathing. I chose her."
Swanson, 27, a trooper who has been with the State Police for four years, was one of the first responders to the massive chain reaction crash Thursday morning on Interstate 75 at Springwells, where dozens of motorists slammed into one another on the Rouge River Bridge when a whiteout swept in and blinded them.
When it was all over, three people had died: Aidan Hicks, 7, and his step-sister, Gabrielle Greenwood, 9, of Amherstburg, Ontario, and Menelaos "Larry" Manolis, 54, of Allen Park, who was in a separate vehicle
Swanson said he had just finished clearing a crash that Thursday morning when he got the call from dispatch about the multi-vehicle accident.
The crash area was soon swarming with EMS units, firefighters, police and tow trucks.
Plus, a lot of bystanders were there, filming the scene and posting it online.
"There were some civilians that were trying to help, but there were others trying to get images up onto YouTube as fast as possible," said Lt. Mike Shaw, also of the Metro North Post of the Michigan State Police, on Wednesday.
"We have no problems with the mainstream media because they all know the drill. But the last thing we want is for someone to see their loved one dead or injured in a vehicle posted on the Internet."
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130206/METRO/302060400#ixzz2KCC5tdOm
The horror of having to decide who to try and save and who he could not. I am sure this trooper will be having a lot of "what if" questions for a long time, even though he did the best he could under the circumstances.
And for those filming the scene? How pathetic are they? Maybe, instead of filming, they may have been in the position to help out in the emergency.
"It was the hardest decision of my life," said Swanson on Wednesday. "But we're trained to treat the most serious injuries and work from there. The boy and one girl had no vitals, no pulse and they weren't breathing.
"The other girl had a very faint pulse and was barely breathing. I chose her."
Swanson, 27, a trooper who has been with the State Police for four years, was one of the first responders to the massive chain reaction crash Thursday morning on Interstate 75 at Springwells, where dozens of motorists slammed into one another on the Rouge River Bridge when a whiteout swept in and blinded them.
When it was all over, three people had died: Aidan Hicks, 7, and his step-sister, Gabrielle Greenwood, 9, of Amherstburg, Ontario, and Menelaos "Larry" Manolis, 54, of Allen Park, who was in a separate vehicle
Swanson said he had just finished clearing a crash that Thursday morning when he got the call from dispatch about the multi-vehicle accident.
The crash area was soon swarming with EMS units, firefighters, police and tow trucks.
Plus, a lot of bystanders were there, filming the scene and posting it online.
"There were some civilians that were trying to help, but there were others trying to get images up onto YouTube as fast as possible," said Lt. Mike Shaw, also of the Metro North Post of the Michigan State Police, on Wednesday.
"We have no problems with the mainstream media because they all know the drill. But the last thing we want is for someone to see their loved one dead or injured in a vehicle posted on the Internet."
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130206/METRO/302060400#ixzz2KCC5tdOm
The horror of having to decide who to try and save and who he could not. I am sure this trooper will be having a lot of "what if" questions for a long time, even though he did the best he could under the circumstances.
And for those filming the scene? How pathetic are they? Maybe, instead of filming, they may have been in the position to help out in the emergency.
No comments:
Post a Comment