Monkey Number 1 Says

Well, occasionally my work day is interrupted by an ERT call out as was the case on the 29th, my first day back to work. I was on a grader, thankfully far away from the hustle
and bustle of the valley pit, when a frantic radio transmission came
from the blasting foreman. A stemming truck (they fill the drilled holes
with blasting crush) had overturned and the blaster was stuck inside.
I was thankfully quite close and dropped my grader into eighth gear and rip snorted my way down there. Turns out I was the second member to respond, the first having assumed Incident Command as such was manning the radio. After ensuring no fuel leaks/hazards
I scurried up the underside of the overturned big assed truck to find the foreman already up there, holding the passengers side door open for me. About 10 feet below me, shaking and bleeding a little was the blaster. It was an odd sensation, you train for these things, do all the necessary first aid courses and the like; but it's infinitely different with a real life human subject. I was worried about how to squeeze myself down there without touching him, as this could very well have been a spinal patient. Not rushing in is something they drill into us, so I managed to spot foot and hand holds To get me safely to him without fucking up and falling on him or something horrible like that. Needless to say, got there safely and found myself standing on the unbroken (unreal) drivers side glass and when standing - looking out the windshield as if it were a full length mirror. I began to assess the blaster, noting he had great discomfort in his back and abdomen, bit of blood in the mouth, but thankfully feeling in all extremities. Stabilized the neck as best I could on my own and wondered how the hell we'd get him out. This truck is essentially a semi cab if this helps with the visual btw. I didn't have to wonder that for long. Our wonderful team was beginning to arrive in swarms, and quickly, both windscreens were removed, their divider was cut out with a reciprocating saw, I was given O2 and a spinal collar for the patient, and had another first aider in the cab with me. Blaster man was really going into shock at this point - he was kinda white and clammy when I arrived, and was getting greyer by the minute. He also came close to losing consciousness a few times before we got the 02 to him. Like I said earlier, your training only goes so far, it's truly surreal to be with someone minutes after something like this happens. None the less, shortly thereafter he was extracted from the truck, packaged according to possible spinal injury protocol and on his way to Kamloops. Thankfully, he was later released with no apparent major injuries. All of this, from call out to ambulatory took about 28 min. Felt like days, but wow - quite the experience. Reminds you that accidents can happen anywhere, anytime. It appears this one was due to a mechanical failure. Makes me proud to work with such dedicated, professional volunteer ERT members who seem to handle anything thrown at us with a swift, safe grace.