I've never been deployed before nor have I ever been in a medevac unit. But, I have often wondered what the first mission would be like. I certainly didn't think things would happen the way they did today. We were surprisingly given a day off today. So, we grabbed a van and headed off to the movies. We had made a left turn and were driving beneath the underpass when we heard the sound of screeching tires. I was driving, Lieutenant Binney was riding shotgun and Sergeants Garcia and Maher were riding in the back with WO1 Weller. We all cringed at the sound because it originated from the immediate rear of our vehicle. I looked up in the rear view mirror and caught the tail end of the scene. A car was stopped perpendicular in our lane behind us and a man was flying over the hood of the vehicle towards us. We were far enough away not to be part of the accident, but close enough to witness it intimately. I brought the van to a halt and Sergeants Garcia and Maher jumped out and sprinted towards the accident. Sergeant Garcia stabilized his neck and Sergeant Maher started assessing the victim's injuries. Multiple contusions, a broken arm, broken leg, and a variety of cuts all over his body. When the first responders arrived (technically, the "second" responders), they didn't tell Sergeants Garcia and Maher to step-aside. They continued to work together to stabilize the victim until it was time for the ambulance to take him away. So, we haven't even left for Afghanistan and our soldiers are already doing good things. Today was a first, but certainly not the last.
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