'The angels were looking out over her'
FREEPORT — A quick and skilled response by Freeport Rescue to an accident at Friday night's Sparkle Weekend "Magic Parade of Lights" likely saved the life of a 3-year-old girl injured after a fall from a "Santa's Workshop" float sponsored by a Pownal day care center.
The child, whose name has not been released, jumped off the float toward her father, who was walking beside the float, and was run over by the rear wheels of the trailer, said Freeport Fire Chief Darrel Fournier, who was on scene.
"The thing I'm very pleased with is that the trauma doctors and Maine Medical Center said due to the aggressive treatment of a paramedic and the rescue crew, they pretty much saved her life en route," Fournier said.
The rescue effort was led by Deputy Chief Paul Conley, a paramedic, who said today that his team took "a tragic situation and prevented it from being a worse situation."
Freeport rescue was on the scene four minutes from the time of the call, Conley said, despite having to take back roads to reach the scene due to crowds and traffic along Main Street.
Witnesses reported that both wheels had run over the child, Conley said, and, "I knew right then and there it was significant."
The child was stabilized on a backboard and was en route to Maine Medical Center six minutes later, he said. The trip to Maine Medical Center in Portland took only 18 minutes, according to Conley.
Conley said the rescue team provided advanced life support — including oxygen and an IV, to the child — who had suffered "significant internal injuries and some fractures to her pelvis," according to Conley. He said rapid transportation, as well as early notification to the Maine Medical Center trauma team, helped save her life.
Fournier said the incident reinforces the "critical importance" of having trained staff on hand at the fire station. Whenever an event in town — like Friday's parade — is likely to draw a crowd, Fournier said he makes sure he has additional volunteer rescue staff at the station. In this case, that may have made the difference.
The day before the parade, Dick Collins, executive director of the Freeport Merchants Association, which organizes the parade as part of its annual Sparkle Weekend, said the parade would take place as scheduled despite forecasted heavy wind and rain. Collins said he had hoped to postpone the parade until Saturday, but police were unable to change coverage schedules at such a late date. Calls to Collins this morning were not returned by press time.
Freeport Police Chief Gerald Schofield said today that the police schedule was posted weeks in advance, and the request to change dates came too late to change the schedule. He said at the meetings attended by Freeport police, "there was never any discussion of a contingency plan."
"We said, 'It's your choice to run it that night or to cancel it,'" Schofield said. "The decision was made to go with it."
The weather at the time of the parade was "on and off heavy rain," Fournier said. "At the time the parade started, we had heavy showers that would stop and start."
The accident took place near the White Cedar Inn, where other children from the float, one of the last in the parade succession, were taken while rescue personnel treated the injured child. She was in serious but stable condition Saturday after undergoing surgery following the accident.
"God, to have a trailer like that run her over... all the things just kind of came together," Conley said. "The angels were looking out over her." |
