Hello, everyone. This is my first message since coming back on Lactnet. I
took a much-needed vacation to the Grand Canyon and points west and south
while in Arizona this year. Something happened on that trip that I need to
share.

There have been numerous times when I have decried what I sometimes resort
to calling the "nursey nursey" points of view expressed by RNs. Those of
you who know me know that I do not mean to be judgmental about nurses, but
rather some of the ideas drummed into them in nursing school.  Anyway, I
just want you all to know that I have always had respect for nurses and
what they know. This was heightened on our trip, for Pardee Hinson and I
travelled with Marie Russell, an LC with a background in critical care
nursing.  We believe that it was meant to be that we were the first people
to stop when a van ran off the road in front of us while traveling the east
rim of Grand Canyon.

I was first on the scene and was confronted by a group of six persons who
were nearly all screaming and blood-covered from the impact of a tree which
was knocked down and which also did major damage to the car on the front
passenger side and the sliding door of the van.

The driver and mother were unhurt; the 9 year old son escaped with minor
cuts and bruises and a bad scare. A 29-year old (the only English speaker;
all the others were German Swiss on vacation throughotu the US) complained
of an injury to one elbow and his neck. The man we deemed to be the father
of the children had two broken arms (one compound) and neck and head
injuries and much loss of blood. The daughter, age 7, died the next day.

Marie immediately assessed the seriousness of her injuries and did CPR and
other action on her with the assistance of an MD from Sao Paulo, Brasil (he
spoke no English; they communicated with sign language and the occasional
help of an interpreter). A fireman who also stopped assisted Marie, but she
was clearly in charge in first assessing the little girls head injury and
prognosis and in doing all she could to and past the time when the EMT
people from the Park Service arrived.

Had Marie not been there, I am convinced that child would have been
pronounced dead at the scene. As it was, she was helicoptered to Flagstaff.
We learned the next day that our fears were confirmed.  She goes home to
Switzerland in a casket.

The memory of this experience will not soon leave. I continue to be haunted
by the sight of small shirts from places llike Disneyworld that I saw in
the suitcases when we were rummaging for towels, and the numerous stuffed
animals tossed in various corners in the back of the van.

The calm caring professionalism of Marie as she sought to do the impossible
is something I also will never forget. She is not yet on LACTNET. If you
feel as I do--that she needs to know how much we all appreciate what she
did--will you please send her a quick note or card?  Her address is:

4726 Addison Drive
Charlotte, NC 28211


Through it all, Pardee and I performed minor duties, such as making people
comfortable and flagging down cars to find a cellular phone or some other
way of getting help. Mostly we stayed out of the way and tried to calm the
mother and her little boy and make the father as comfortable as we could
when what he needed was morphine.

Another person who stopped by identified himself as a doctor and then
disappeared. We never did know what kind of doc he was. The fireman was
great, triaging the entire scene and directing people and other kind of
traffic while his wife, a nurse, also helped with injuries.

One last thing: it is quite likely that the injuries sustained in this
accident would largely have been prevented had seat belts been used. No one
(apparently) was wearing them.  Should you need to impress a child/teen
with the fragility of life and the importance of safety restraints, feel
free to copy this message and mention that a little boy now has no sister,
a mother and father no daughter, a child no life--all for want of a buckle
and belt.

PS How did we react when it was all over and we were on our way again?  We
three had an orgy of eating junk food and then major release in what I
fondly refer to as "retail therapy." DO NOT ASK how much I spent that day!




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 %% "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities      %%
 %% brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."            %%
 %% definition of a lactation consulting service.               %%
 %% Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC - [log in to unmask]          %%
 %% Homewood, Illinois USA                                      %%

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