Not all heroes wear capes: Nate Lee of Harris in Blackfoot, ID, helps save a local woman’s life
Author: Bob Swanger, Executive Vice President, Service + Building Automation
Humanity is never “off the clock.” Many of us have read about incredible acts of heroism and thought, “could I have been that brave? Would I have made that decision, if it were me?”
For Blackfoot HVAC service technician, Nate Lee, the answer was unequivocally “yes” when he saw two people struggling to evacuate someone from a car that ended up in the canal next to the road. The situation was dire, and without the swift intervention of four people, including Nate, it would have resulted in tragedy. From Cassia Myers, who called 9-1-1 while running after the car she spotted floating in the canal with a trapped driver inside, to the two rescuers who came upon it moments later and dove right into the water, to Nate himself and the paramedics who arrived on scene shortly thereafter, what played out was nothing short of miraculous. Luck, divine intervention, whatever (and whoever) those involved choose to credit with the outcome, a life was saved.
We are humbled by news of the event, and proud to share it with the rest of you. You never know when you might be going about your average day and suddenly be in a position to do something extraordinary for someone else.
The incident happened on Tuesday, June 3rd when a woman was run off the road by another vehicle and careened into the canal. The water was bitterly cold that day, and the current was strong enough to cause the vehicle to spin uncontrollably. A local woman saw the car careening down the waterway and called 9-1-1. Moments later two other locals arrived and dove right into the frigid canal. After managing to get the car stopped in the powerful current, both men attempted to free the terrified woman inside, but they couldn’t get in. Nate Lee happened to be driving along that road while enroute to his next job right then, and, seeing the horrifying scene playing out from his truck window, pulled over and immediately leapt out to assist. The rescuers said they needed to break the car’s windows and Nate, grabbing the biggest wrench he could find, leapt into action.
Between the three of them, they got the windows broken open, but the woman was in shock, unresponsive and unable to unbuckle herself. Nate, who was nearest the driver, ultimately had to reach into the car, cutting his hands, wrist and forearms in the process, to cut off the woman’s seatbelt (the release button was submerged and invisible) and pull her to freedom. When the rescuers finally got the woman out and back on land, paramedics were arriving as if right on cue. In the end, the woman sustained no injuries and was taken home. Nate was, in fact, the only person who was hurt at all.
Anything less than the split-second decision making from Nate and his fellow rescuers could, and indeed, probably would, have been a few seconds more than the woman in that vehicle could afford. In the writing of this post, Nate mentioned a saying he says he lives by: “the body will never go to a place where the mind hasn’t already been.” A less eloquent way to put this would be to say that in times of great stress, or when we are under a lot of pressure, “we fall to the level of our training.”
If we haven’t educated and trained ourselves to act when the chips are down, we can’t necessarily trust that we’ll be ready to act when they are. Thank you, Nate, for your heroism, certainly, but also for reminding us all that safety is as much a personal commitment and mindset as it is a group commitment.
Read the story as published by the Idaho State Journal here. You’re a hero, Nate. May we all have quick thinkers like you in the area should we ever be as unfortunate as this woman.
This is a great opportunity to talk about safety, even though this particular scenario isn’t likely on our jobsites.
How dangerous is a sinking car? Hundreds of deaths every year are attributed to vehicle submersion (verifiable with a quick Google search). According to most information on the topic, if your vehicle is sinking, you’ve got about one minute to escape with you life. One minute. In light of this extraordinary event, we thought we’d share with you exactly how you should use those precious 60 seconds if you end up in a similar situation.
- Unbuckle as soon as you hit the water and roll down your windows. Research suggests from he moment of impact, you’ve got about 30-60 seconds before water rises to the bottom of the windows. Once the water reaches that height, the water pressure will make it impossible to roll them down.
- Windows stuck already? Break them. Circuits could short circuit and keep you from rolling windows down even before water pressure is the culprit. Or, as with the women in the story above, the pure shock of the situation might rob you of that precious first thirty or so seconds. If that’s the case, you need something that can break the tempered glass window andpossibly do so with water pressure behind it. Consider keeping an emergency tool in your vehicle.
- Get out!If you’re able to roll your windows down, you want to get out of the car as soon as possible. If you’ve got kids or pets in the car, they’ll have a harder time fighting a rush of water coming in through windows, so push them out first if you have to. Some suggest pushing the oldest out and taking the youngest with you.
What about waiting for the pressure to equalize? Yes, when the car is completely submerged and completely full of water, pressure equalizes on both sides of the door, so you’ll be able to open it underwater. However, the chances of surviving once you’ve reached this point are greatly reduced, as you (and anyone else in the vehicle with you) would have to be able to hold your breath until that exact equalization point. This is why they say you have a minute before tragedy becomes likely.
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