April 9 was an ordinary day for Dawson County Firemedics Andy Scott and Frankie Everhart.
Ordinary, that is, until the pair, returning from a transport to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, happened upon a vehicle on fire in Forsyth County.
Without hesitation, the two pulled over, rescued three individuals from the burning automobile and immediately returned to Northeast Georgia Medical Center where one pediatric and one adult were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation. A second child was transferred by air ambulance to a burn center in Atlanta.
“Without a second thought or additional resources, they loaded the patients into the ambulance and returned back to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, arriving there only 11 minutes after they happened upon the scene of this horrible crash,” said Dawson County Chief of Emergency Services Lanier Swafford.
“Their quick actions resulted in advance care being administered to these patients in less than 15 minutes from the time of the accident,” Swafford said.
Last Thursday, representatives with North Georgia Region 2 Emergency Medical Services for Children recognized Scott and Everhart for their valor and heroics in pediatric lifesaving, during the Dawson County Board of Commissioners meeting.
“We just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” said Scott, a father of young daughters, who added that it took several days before he slept after the incident.
“When something like this happens, you always relate it back to your own family. You think about your own kids,” he said. “I hope the girls will get over it and never remember it. I hope they can live on past it and get on with their lives.”
There was a formal awards ceremony Sept. 8, when men and women from the service’s 13 county region will receive the prestigious Pediatric Life Saving Award.
Fifteen Dawson County Emergency Services employees have received the award since 2003.
Scott joins an elite group across the state to be a two-time recipient.
“These individuals are indeed the caliber of men and women serving as Dawson County Emergency Services,” Swafford said.
Both humble individuals “just doing their jobs,” neither Scott nor Everhart see themselves as heroic.
“You always think of other scenarios where perhaps you could do something different that might have made them less injured or cause them less pain or trauma,” Everhart said. “I don’t really know about heroes, but I think we did a good job.”
E-mail Michele Hester at michele@dawsonnews.com.