People cause accidents, and vice versa.

Driving down I-75 from the campout, we came across an accident that consisted of a single overturned car. There were no police or fire personnel on the scene and from the way people were standing around the car, it seemed apparent that there was a serious problem. Since I always carry two fire extinguishers as well as some pretty well stocked first aid kits with me at all times since it is something I had put together when teaching classes, diving, and being involved in activities that might be a good distance away from immediate assistance. I pulled over to see how we could assist and grabbed my equipment as I ran over. As you can see from the pictures, it was pretty serious situation in that both occupants were trapped in the vehicle.

Fortunately, a local off-duty EMT just happened to be in the passing by and was at the vehicle 2-3 minutes before we got there. The female driver was on the side that wasn't as nearly crushed in while the male passenger was in the collapsed section of the car, but still breathing. The woman's hair was caught between the vehicle and the ground when the sunroof shattered. The EMT was using a pocket knife to cut her hair so that she could be freed so I gave him my rescue shears and a set of gloves since at that point there was glass and quite a bit of blood around. After quite a bit of cutting we were able to get her head released and assist in lowering her to the ground and easing her out. Just as she was taken out rescue personnel started showing up on the scene and took over. At that point it is best to just get out of the way and convey the little information we had.

A couple of trucks had to respond with the equipment necessary to reinforce and lift one side of the vehicle while they used cutting tools (e.g. the Jaws of Life) to tear open the other side of the car in order to extract the male occupant. The female was stable so she was just loaded into the ambulance, however the male had to be medevaced out. The interstate was shut down so that the helicopter could land and after being quickly interviewed (we were not witnesses of the accident, merely responders) we were told we could leave when the helicopter had left. I got a bunch of shots of the extraction and the medevac operations.

The whole event merely reinforced the necessity to have even basic first aid training and keep emergency supplies on hand. There was one stupid bystander that commented that maybe a tourniquet should be applied when he noticed some blood on the arms and legs; so obviously if you don't have training you shouldn't attempt such things else you will make the situation worse. In the least people should keep handy a face shield for CPR, gloves, bandages, and rescue shears that can cut through straps, clothes, canvas, or even metal. Apparently while driving in the right lane the female saw a large pickup merging into her lane, so she jerked to the side without thinking and lost control. When the car ran off the road it struck a tree in the rear side panel and overturned before it came to rest a few hundred feet away in the recently rained grass. Fortunately the site was near some fields and was sparse of any large trees, else a frontal impact would have been even more devastating. After the excitement was over we headed home to unpack from the campout events, merely glad to make it home safe and having been able to provide some assistance.