Right place, right time

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Aubrey White
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  "There were people everywhere screaming and yelling," explained Capt. Cassie Cosentino, 4th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Public Health officer in charge, as she recalled being faced with a horrific encounter while supporting operations in Southwest Asia, April 10, 2013.

Cosentino, Senior Airman Husein Khan, 4th AMDS Public Health technician, along with several other Airmen, set out for the day to complete several routine health inspections at local facilities when they approached a busy intersection, not knowing it would soon become the scene of a mass casualty incident.

"All of a sudden we heard a big crash," Khan said. "We were about 10 cars back and everyone started getting out of their cars to look at what happened; all we saw was a plume of black smoke."

They were immediately shocked by what occurred and realized two mini-buses full of migrant workers had collided with an SUV and were completely engulfed in flames, said Khan.
"We all kind of hesitated at first," Cosentino said. "We were the only calm individuals in this sea of madness, so we jumped out to see if we could help, then realized we were the only help."

Although public health specialists typically work in a medical facility, they are not medically trained in crisis management as in-depth as their clinical counterparts, who are more likely to come across patients with severe trauma ailments. However, all Airmen are trained annually to administer basic life-saving, or Self Aid and Buddy Care (SABC), skills in the field and this group put that proficiency to use.

Cosentino, Khan and another Airman took off toward the accident scene with a first aid kit in hand, leaving one Airman to secure their vehicle.

The group took charge of the scene and began setting up a triage based on severity of injuries.

"One bus driver was mangled in what was left of the bus; the other driver slid across the pavement and was deceased," Khan explained. "There were a lot of head wounds but the most injured person was a 22-year-old male from Sri Lanka who had an open leg fracture; his tibia was sticking out of his skin. He was going in and out of consciousness so I kept a conversation going with him to keep him awake."

Luckily for the Airmen, Khan grew up in Dubai speaking Hindi, Urdu and enough Arabic to hold a conversation. His language skills enabled them to effectively communicate with and treat the injured.

Not only was Khan able to interpret for that purpose, but Cosentino and the others soon found out they would rely on him for much more.

"The emergency medical service personnel eventually arrived, and since it's an Arab country, tried to tell [the captain] and the other Airman they needed to leave because they're females," Khan said. "I had to tell them 'they're with me, they're alright and they can stay.'"

It became apparent to the Airmen that the emergency management technicians (EMT) who arrived to help, were overwhelmed by the situation at hand. Instead of focusing on those who were critically injured, they removed the deceased from the view of bystanders; another action Khan attributed to the difference in cultures.

"We just went into go mode and did what we had to do," Cosentino said. "Khan opened up the back of their ambulance, and started taking equipment out and throwing it to us. We helped the EMTs put the severely injured on back boards to get them out of there first. We felt like we had done all we could do."

At that time, Cosentino directed the other Airmen to wrap things up so they could head back to base.

"We got back into our car and had blood all over us," Cosentino explained. "The first thing we wanted to do was wash our hands. We were all in shock and didn't talk about it much that night."

When looking back on that day, Cosentino and Khan can't help but feel as though they were meant to be at that intersection when the vehicles collided.

They both attribute their life-saving actions to the SABC training all Airmen receive annually.

"I think people often gripe about completing their SABC and CPR training but you never know when you're going to use it," Cosentino said. "That preparation really works and it's very valuable to have."