As he spoke, a loud crashing and banging started in the trailer. The violence of it caused the car to vibrate.
‘Ben! Check the trailer!’ Justin shouted. He wasn’t about to leave the injured driver.
‘Ambo is on its way. Ken, too.’
‘Hear that.’ Justin spoke in a calming tone to the trapped man. ‘The ambulance is on its way. They’ll be here soon. Can you tell me your name?’
‘Paul.’
As a senior firefighter, Justin had received a good deal of first aid and emergency medical training, but he’d never faced something like this without ambulance officers leading the rescue. Leaning into the cab, he could see Paul’s face clearly. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing. Without touching him, Justin looked for further injuries. The man’s legs were still under the steering wheel, and Justin could see more blood seeping steadily from a tear in his jeans. He had to try to stem the bleeding until the ambulance arrived. Carefully, he reached inside and tried to release the seatbelt. The clasp didn’t give way. Probably better that the driver not be moved now anyway.
Justin looked up. Ben had returned. ‘There’s a huge bull in that trailer. I don’t know how badly it’s hurt, but there’s a fair bit of blood and it’s thrashing about. The tailgate is jammed. It’s not coming out in a hurry.’
‘Okay. Call a vet. And get the first aid kit from the truck.’
Ben vanished, returning a few seconds later with the emergency kit from their vehicle.
Justin opened it and stared at the contents. It wasn’t designed to cope with situations like this. ‘How long till the ambos get here?’
‘Five, ten minutes?’
‘Right. We’re going to need to cut him out. But first, I need to try to stop the bleeding.’ Justin reached for some packets of large dressings, tore them open and folded them into a thick wad. Bracing himself against the bonnet, he pushed his head and shoulders as far into the cab as he could. The driver opened his eyes and tried to speak.
‘Paul, it’s going to be all right. But I need you to help me,’ Justin said. ‘This is going to hurt, but hang in there.’
He placed the dressings over the wound in the man’s leg. Paul tensed, then groaned as Justin applied pressure.
‘Sorry, but we have to stop the bleeding. Can you put your hand there? Good. Now you need to apply pressure. Can you do that, Paul? Come on, I need you to focus. Put pressure on that wound.’
The driver nodded his head and his face clenched with pain as he pressed down. Justin put his own hand over the driver’s and applied extra pressure.
‘That’s good. You have to hold that for me now. Just for a minute.’
Paul nodded.
‘Ben—a wide bandage.’
Justin took the bandage Ben offered and, as best he could, wrapped it to hold the dressing in place.
‘Paul. Keep your hand there. Keep the pressure on. We are going to have to cut you out.’
‘Okay.’ The man’s voice was weak.
‘Good. Now, when we start cutting, turn your head away and close your eyes. Have you got that, Paul?’
The man was barely conscious, but each time Justin said his name, his eyes flickered and he briefly seemed more alert.
As Justin slid out of the cab, another burst of crashing from inside the trailer caused it to shift a little where it was lying on the edge of the ditch. They needed to get that animal out of there. Hopefully the vet would be here soon. But the trapped man came first.
Ben was already removing equipment from the boxes fixed to the side of the RFS vehicle. He had a circular saw, metal cutters and what the media liked to call the jaws of life. Justin hated that term, however apt it might be. The brothers had done this before and set to work cutting through the roof pillar on the passenger side of the crashed vehicle’s cab. Then, together, they started to prise back the roof. As they were working, the ambulance drove up, its light flashing.
‘His name is Paul,’ Justin said.
The first ambulance officer nodded and dropped to his knees beside the cab.
‘Paul. Can you hear me, Paul? We’re gonna help you.’ The ambo took a minute to check his patient then turned back to Justin. ‘Good job. Now carry on. Let’s get him out of there.’
It took another ten minutes to open the roof of the car enough to allow the rescuers better access to their patient. Then carefully, with help from Justin and Ben, the two ambulance officers pulled the driver free and placed him on a stretcher.
