A January day - a different perspective

By Veronica Olsen

There are moments in life where everything stands still. This morning, our family decided to take a day trip to Leavenworth to play in the snow and enjoy the town. We had just started driving on highway 2 eastbound in Snohomish when we turned around a bend and saw large plumes of smoke and steam, a logging truck in the ditch, logs all over the road, and badly damaged cars strewn all over the highway. It was bad. The accident had just happened and we were the first on scene. 

Being a firefighter and EMT, Jeff quickly got out of our car and ran over to start triage. He was the only one there with emergency medical training. He quickly triaged the people involved, then began to treat the most critically injured, a young woman in the heavily damaged pick-up. When he found her, she was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious and not breathing. He quickly repositioned her to open her airway, at which point she began breathing adequately on her own. Jeff remained with her, immobilizing her neck and keeping her airway open until on duty EMS could arrive. 

As Snohomish FD was arriving, the woman stopped breathing on her own. Jeff pulled her from the vehicle and used a bag valve mask from the on scene Snohomish County Deputy to begin breathing for her. Jeff continued to assist her respirations as she was treated on scene. As more responders arrived, Jeff cleared out and remained on location giving a report to State Patrol as she was airlifted by helicopter to Harborview. 

This was the farthest thing from our mind as a possibility of happening on our family outing, but my thankfulness is infinite for God's protection of our family and for Jeff's skills being used to assist those in their darkest hour. We were probably thirty seconds away from being directly involved in that collision and I thank God and our guardian angels for their protection and for putting Jeff right where he needed to be to help. Please, everyone, pray for the victims involved as they all have difficult healing roads ahead of them both physically, mentally, and emotionally. I pray especially for the young woman who Jeff worked on and was airlifted, that she makes it and that her family is able to be with her. Thank you Jeff for your courageous, no hesitation willingness to help the people that need you most even while off duty. While everyone stood back in horror, you ran forward without hesitation and gave her a fighting chance. God bless you and protect you always.

. . . . . . . 

We also learned that the Snohomish County deputy had been just a few cars behind Jeff and his wife, Veronica.  Veronica called 9-1-1.  Jeff, being off duty didn't have the equipment he needed to help Hannah, but the deputy did. (both the bag valve mask and the radio) Only Firefighters (Jeff) have authorization to call for medi-vac.  The fact that they were both on the scene immediately saved precious moments for Hannah.  

We also learned that getting a helicopter in the air can take time, but this day, it was ALREADY in the air, saving even more valuable time. 

Later we would learn that Jeff and Veronica have a mutual friend with Eric and me. 

Just the previous day, our pastor preached on prayer.  Our church family sure had opportunity to put it into practice.  

God's fingerprints were all over this event.  We know that He had this planned before time began for our good and for His glory.  We trust Him fully and so can rejoice.  We are thankful, of course, for Hannah's life being spared. We are thankful for how it brought our family even closer.  We are thankful for how it deepened our faith - this Refiner's fire.  We are thankful for how our friends rallied to our sides and cared for our other children.  We are thankful for now knowing just how to care for someone else who finds themselves in a similar situation.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  ( 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 )

- Carol