Just minutes after a medical helicopter crashed onto a California highway, Sacramento Fire Capt. Peter Vandersluis found himself directing an impromptu response team of about 15 drivers to lift the wreckage off a paramedic trapped underneath. When Vandersluis shouted "lift," they raised the aircraft. When he ordered "hold," they kept it elevated. "Just out of instinct—the people were there willing to help, and they didn't hesitate and followed my exact commands," Vandersluis told tells the AP. "And we were able to lift it up with ease."
The paramedic, as well as a nurse and pilot on board, were taken to hospitals in critical condition after Monday evening's crash on State Route 50 east of downtown Sacramento. The aircraft had departed a hospital after dropping off a patient when it experienced an "in-air emergency" and went down just after 7pm. Vandersluis was supervising the first fire engine crew to reach the crash, and he knew it would take too long for additional rescue teams to arrive. "Once I heard the woman groan, I made the decision to essentially yell out and get the bystanders to help lift the helicopter off of her," Vandersluis says.
A firefighter tried to pull the paramedic out only to find she was trapped by her seat belt. The firefighter scooted underneath, cut the seat belt and rescued her. The ad hoc team raised the aircraft in about 30 seconds. By the time the firefighter extracted the paramedic, less than a minute had passed. The group gently lowered the aircraft to the ground after the paramedic was safely removed. Valdersluis says he has never led a group of civilians in an emergency response situation before. But his job, he says, is to lead the men and women he works with on a daily basis. His training and nearly 20 years of experience as a firefighter told him what to do.
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His engine had been responding to a motorcycle accident in the westbound lanes of the same highway when the helicopter crashed. The engine drove against traffic to the scene and got there in minutes. Some drivers were already out of their cars trying to assist when the firefighters arrived. Aimee Braddock was among those who helped. She told KCRA that she rushed to the crash site after seeing the helicopter plummet to the pavement. "As soon as I saw that everybody was moving to try to push the helicopter out to help the first responders get to the passenger, I just ran over and got in the line of people and was just pushing it as much as I could," she said. No one on the highway was injured, something Capt. Justin Sylvia with the Sacramento Fire Department called "mind blowing" given that the helicopter crashed in the center of the highway.
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