By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
In an emergency situation quick response can mean the difference between life and death. This was the case when first responders from two separate agencies responded two weeks ago (January 28), fighting inclement weather to respond to a house fire on Christy Drive in Grayson. The call came in as a possible structure fire, and Assistant Director Mike Wears of Carter County EMS and K9 Officer Justin Stone of the Grayson Police Department arrived at virtually the same time.
“The house was fully involved and on fire at that point,” Wears said.
He knew the house was occupied because he had just been at the residence two days prior and helped the resident, a woman who was bedridden, get out for a doctor’s appointment. The reason for officer Stone responding, Wears said, was that all departments respond to fire and traffic emergencies, offering what is commonly known as mutual aid.
“Everyone is kind of covering everyone’s back when those kinds of calls happen,” Wears said.
And it was fortunate for the woman (whose name was not released) that two responders arrived at the same time because it required both men to assist in getting the woman out of the home.
“When we got to the house, we could see the front door was partially open,” Stone said. “Smoke was already through the whole structure, and was already banked down to the floor.”
Added to this, he said, there was noticeable fire on the corner of the dwelling opposite the front door.
“It was visible from the outside of the house,” Stone continued. “All the departments – fire, police, and EMS – had responded to multiple calls in that area. We knew she was bedridden and in the living room. So, when Mike and I were able to confirm that she was still in the house, that’s when we removed her and pulled her out into the front yard.”
Stone and Wears, working quickly, decided that the safest and most expedient means of removing the woman from the burning, smoke-filled structure, was to carry her out using the mattress of her bed.
“The mattress slid across the floor, then across the ice in the front yard,” Stone said.
“It worked better taking her with the mattress rather than trying to pick her up,” Wears added. “She was totally unresponsive and incapacitated. There was no chance of her assisting us in any way. So, we basically used the mattress as a lift sheet and that’s what we took her out of the house with.”
Wears said there was another EMS truck right behind him, and it was staged at the end of the street.
“At that point they (the other truck) didn’t know it was confirmed entrapment. Justin and I got there first, and we had her out of the house by the time the first ambulance showed up. At that point we got her onto the ambulance, and got the ambulance headed back out as the first fire truck was pulling up,” he explained.
The ambulance took the woman to the burn unit at Cabell Hospital, Wears said.
“Any time we have anyone that is involved in a situation like that, even if they aren’t physically burned, they are still taken there because that is their specialty, burns and respiratory burns.”
Stone and Wears responded quickly to save the woman’s life, working together in spite of being from different departments. Both say that mutual aid is a key factor in protecting the residents of Grayson in the best manner possible.
“We help each other,” Wears said. “We do what needs to be done, and we do it better working together.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
