GREENSBORO – Providing highway traffic
control, changing tires, jump-starting vehicles are some of the daily tasks of
the more than 50 North Carolina State Farm Incident Management Assistance
Patrol drivers, however this week two drivers added life savers to their
titles.
Around 4 p.m. Monday Jan. 8, near mile marker
100 on I-73, Triad IMAP driver Robert Remini came upon a woman standing outside
the passenger side of her Honda Fit. She was panicking.
“I pulled over, turned on my lights, told her I was here to help and
asked her what was wrong,” said Remini. “The look on her face was pure terror,
telling me her child was choking on the seatbelt. I immediately called our
Statewide Transportation Operations Center, told them we had a medical emergency
and to send Emergency Services. I evaluated the child and saw that the toddler
had wrapped the seatbelt around their neck twice, and attempted to pull the belt
away but to no avail. I saw my fellow driver Denny Thrift on his nearby route
and radioed him for support. We both tried with sheer strength to free the child
but were having no luck.”
IMAP drivers have a
plethora of tools at their disposal so Remini decided to use one he invested in
three years ago.
“I grabbed my Smith and Wesson
seatbelt cutter, looked once more at the child turning blue, and cut the kid
loose.”
In the moments after, all Robert and Denny
could hear was the weeping moans of a relieved mother, who knew had many more
moments passed, her child may have died.
Emergency
services arrived and provided treatment on the scene.
“When they removed the oxygen and we realized that the two could
safely head home,” said Remini, “I handed the mother a comment card, it’s the one way
we get tangible feedback on our jobs; but I knew though that at least this day,
out of the many spent giving gasoline to drivers and jumping dead batteries, it
was a job well done.”
If you are ever stranded in area
covered by NCDOT State Farm Safety Patrol, simply dial *HP from your mobile
phone for assistance. Robert or Denny may even stop to help you.
Miracle King
miracleking@ncdot.gov
(336)
487-0157