Army Maj. Crystal Kelley was on a clinical rotation in El Paso, Texas, where she found herself testing her life-saving skills. She was recently recognized for her heroic response during a 2019 traffic accident when she was a captain (USU Photo).
In addition to the child, there were eight other casualties that required medical attention. Of those, two from the truck were in stable condition, while two in the van had received fatal injuries.
The rest of the passengers in the van were suffering from serious lacerations and still needed help to exit the vehicle. Kelley assisted with those casualties, as Bunag rushed back to care for the small child. They moved the child inside the rest stop building, to continue CPR out of the wind and rain.
Knowing that they were easily 30 to 45 minutes away from the nearest town, and it would be some time before emergency response crews could arrive, Kelley instructed another bystander, who identified herself as a registered nurse, to continue helping Bunag with CPR on the child, so that she could go back to checking on the other casualties, consoling the family from the van, and directing bystanders to stay back.
While still administering CPR on the child, Bunag got on the line with the 911 operator. He and Kelley then began coordinating emergency evacuation by ambulance and air evacuation for the child. They remained on the scene until emergency responders arrived.
Although they did all that they could to provide critical care that day to those who were seriously injured, they later learned that the young child did not survive.
Fortunately, the students were in the right place at the right time. Had they not been there and taken such swift action, this tragic accident could have resulted in even more fatalities.