Neely '03 puts OA training to good use, aids accident victims

Amanda Neely '03 routinely administers minor first aid for sprained ankles and blisters while leading Outdoor Action trips, but she never expected to use her OA lifesaving training on campus.

While driving up Washington Road on Wednesday night, Neely saw two students lying in the middle of the road after having been struck by a car.

Jessica Case '06 and Mary "Aly" Spencer '06 were hit by a Saturn sedan as they were crossing the road by Fine Hall. They were returning from swim team practice in DeNunzio Pool.

Neely stopped her car and approached the scene of the accident, asking if anyone had called 911. Because no one was sure, she told a man with a cellphone there to call.

"I didn't think I would be of any help," Neely said. But "I thought an extra pair of hands couldn't hurt."

Neely first helped Case, who seemed in worse shape than Spencer, and made sure she stayed still on the ground.

"The things OA teaches us are to keep the patient stable" and wait for medical assistance to arrive, she said.

Neely then taught Spencer, who was moving around at the time, the "hands-on stable" position, a technique used to keep the patient's neck still.

"It's always better to assume a spinal injury," she said.

Neely then checked the victims' level of consciousness and waited for medical help to arrive.

She credits her first aid knowledge to OA training.

"I know how to do it because of OA," Neely said. "Any OA leader would have probably done the same thing. Everything OA teaches people is really important."

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OA leaders are required to take a 16-hour Health Education and Rescue Training wilderness first aid course and a four-hour CPR course as part of their training.

HEART covers many first aid skills such as patient examination and evaluation, body systems and anatomy, wound care and splinting and environmental emergencies, according to the OA website.

It is taught by students who are emergency medical technicians or who have taken the more intensive, 80-hour wilderness emergency medical training course, said Rick Curtis '79, OA program director.

After taking HEART, Neely led pre-frosh in OA rock climbing trips during her junior and senior years.

In addition to the HEART and CPR classes, leaders are also required to take part in a leader training course, which culminates in a six-day backpacking trip. Every year, leaders are required to review what they have learned before the frosh trip.

"That review every year is so key to everything," Neely said.

Because of her experience Wednesday, Neely now hopes to participate in the 80-hour course.

There have been other occasions on campus where an OA leader has felt the need to use her training to help others during a medical emergency.

A year ago Thursday, Krissy Scurry '04 was studying in Firestone Library when an alumnus next to her went into cardiac arrest.

Scurry, then an OA instructor in the HEART program, asked another student to call 911 while she administered CPR.

The 911 call went to Stanhope Hall, where there is a properly trained 911 operator. Sgt. James Glasson said proctors are trained as police officers and expected to be first responders to medical emergencies.

Scurry said one proctor was sent to the scene.

The 47-year-old man did not respond to Scurry's CPR attempts and died despite her efforts.

The tragedy inspired Scurry to continue her first aid training, and now she is a certified CPR instructor and the CPR coordinator for the OA program.

It is important for OA leaders to step up in an emergency if their help and training is needed, Curtis said. "You've got to be ready to do it," he said. "Be prepared. You have your training, and you may be needed to use it."