'Heroes' Of Downtown Crash Re-Directing Attention

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

Prince George, B.C. -  Red Cross personnel rushed from their 6th Avenue office this morning, after witnessing the crash that sent one man to hospital earlier today.

They began CPR immediately, until other first responders arrived.

Police say the 52-year-old city man suffered a medical emergency while driving, and his vehicle crashed into one parked along the road at 6th Avenue and Brunswick Street.  The man is in UHNBC, but his condition is not known at this time.

Speaking on behalf of all employees and volunteers at the Canadian Red Cross office this afternoon, Regional Manager, Becky Row, says, "First off, of course, is our best wishes and hopes to the individual that was taken care of this morning."

"It's certainly not a good call for his family to receive -- a loved one is in the hospital -- so our best thoughts are sent out to the family that's been affected."

And Row prefers to re-focus the spotlight from the heroic efforts...to the need to be prepared with first aid training.  "Everybody's going about their day-to-day business, including the patient that was involved here," says Row.  "No one ever expecting that their lives would come to this sort of collision, but it just illustrates so very clearly that you don't expect it to happen and, yet, here's a time when first aid and CPR skills were needed and they were need immediately."

Row is encouraging everyone to have this type of training, so they'd have the capacity to respond, if it was required.

She's also sending out thanks and kudos to the RCMP, Prince George Fire and Rescue and the B.C. Ambulance Service for their fast response times, as well.  "It's great to live in a community where you know when you call 911 that response time is going to be fast and you've got those key players on site, really, really quickly."

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us