Andrews
medic helps save father, son
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| Master
Sgt. David Klink, left, speaks with an unidentified
Airman in his office at Andrews AFB, Md. (U.S. Air Force
photo)
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By
Senior Airman Adrianne L. Wilson
89th Airlift Wing
Public Affairs
ANDREWS
AIR FORCE BASE, Md. -- An
Airman with the 89th Airlift Wing’s dental squadron here helped
rescue a father and son involved in a recent accident in nearby
Waldorf.
Master Sgt. David
Klink, the squadron’s superintendent, was waiting in his vehicle
at a stoplight at a T-intersection when he witnessed a truck
barreling through the intersection on two tires after its
brakes failed. The truck crashed into two buildings and landed
on its driver’s side.
Klink drove to the
accident site where he and his friend were the first people
on the scene to help. The truck was still running and there
was diesel fuel and white steam coming out of it.
“We looked in the
tinted window of the truck and saw someone move,” Klink said.
“My friend boosted me up and I dropped in through the passenger
window. Just as we were about to get out of the truck, we
heard a kid start crying.”
When the truck crashed,
the boy flew out of the seat because he was not in a child
seat, fire department officials later told Klink.
“[The boy] was all
the way in the back under tarps and toys and things,” Klink
said. “There was no way we could see him, but we could hear
him scream. The dad was coming to, so the dad and I started
to look for the boy. The dad was not all the way with it yet,
so the dad handed him to me. I know from experience that his
neck could be hurt, so I supported him on my chest.”
Sergeant Klink got
out of the vehicle with the boy. Even though the truck was
mangled, the father was not seriously injured, Klink said.
The only visible injury the 3-year-old had was his six top
front teeth broke into pieces and shards.
While the boy was
lying on the ground, Klink used a T-shirt to stop the bleeding.
When the ambulance
arrived, two emergency medical technicians switched the T-shirt
in the boy’s mouth to wet gauze, Klink said.
“I gave (the EMT)
all the medical information I knew, we took his vitals, and
we transferred him to a backboard,” he said. “When I got to
the ambulance, [the EMT] asked if I wanted to go with her
because her co-worker was still tending to the father.”
Because of his Air
Force medical training, Klink said he knew what to do and
did not panic.
“I got to do some
medical stuff that I never thought I would do because I make
teeth,” the sergeant said. “I use torches and grinders and
things like that. It came really natural, I had eight or 10
people standing there (who) didn’t know what to do, and I
was able to help.
“I’m really far
down on the medical totem pole, but it still came really naturally”
he said.
After the boy was
taken by helicopter to a children’s hospital in Washington,
D.C., the EMT assured Klink that father and son were in good
condition.
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