After a few days of waking up at 6am to run, I slept in late. Woke up to no one in the house. No big deal. Liz had gone to school early to collect sponsorship information and then decided to just stay until class.
Valentin came back and we were heading over there a few hours early. I drove. It was about half way to Fond Parisien that we watched a red car swerve off the road and slam into a tree and a relatively high speed. I pulled over and we all got out and ran over. The driver and rear passengers appeared fine, but Valentin and Dessalines extricated the woman in the passenger's seat and carried her to a "somewhat" flat dirt ditch. I tried to summon up the information I had learned in EMT class. I held the woman's hand, asked her where it hurt. She said her back, her neck, and her head hurt. I pressed on the quadrants of her belly. She didn't scream, but the upper left quadrant did seem a little harder than it should have been. Valentin called an ambulance and we waited...about 20 minutes. I basically held her hand and yelled at anyone that tried to move her (including her.) I held C-Spine as the ambulance arrived and prepared to load her onto a gurney. When the doctor did the same belly test, she screamed at the upper left quadrant which might indicate some sort of internal bleeding. The gurney loading was definitely not the way I would have recommended. I offered a suggestion to the doctor, but he just said that he wanted to pick her up, trying keep her neck and spine in line, and lift her onto the gurney. About 10 hands grabbed various parts of her body and pulled her up. I really think it would have been best to log roll her onto the gurney. I held one end of the gurney (which was very heavy and difficult getting up a small slope) and we loaded her into the ambulance. I had Valentin drive the rest of the way to school. In the car, Valentin asked me if I was scared. And I was glad to say I wasn't...I was calm. I was dirty from kneeling in the dirt and I couldn't feel my toes, but I was calm. But it has been a while since EMT class and I wish I could have remembered and done more. Asked more questions...something...I don't know. I sat there thinking how different that situation would be in the U.S. But there really is no point in that...you have to work with the situation you are handed, no matter what it is or where you are. I hope she is okay.
It was a good day at school though. We have an exam on Monday, so we have spent the last few days reviewing. I think (and really hope) they will do better on this one. A new student came up to me after class and said, "I am grateful for what you are doing. I do not have words to thank you." That is always good to hear as I am in a constant struggle with how I am doing as a teacher. Later I heard from Jon's practical class (the room across the hall) the question: "If I marry a woman and she doesn't want to have babies, what can I do?" I started laughing...realizing it was one of my students. Jon just told him it wasn't the time or place to answer that question. The student said: "You said we could ask anything!" Haha.
Jon and I are going in today for tutoring. I have a feeling it's going to be packed.
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