Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A man who credits Multi-Township EMS with saving his life spoke at a county EMS conference Saturday.
Sherwood Waggy, Lebanon, was critically injured in a July 20, 2003, car accident at the intersection of U.S. 30 and CR 800W, near Etna Green. Waggy's accident was called "one of the bloodiest accidents I've ever seen," by Mike Oberg, Multi-Township EMS, and responding personnel and hospital doctors did not expect him to live.
Waggy was a passenger in a car driven by his teenage daughter, when their car was t-boned by an oncoming sport utility vehicle at about 60 miles per hour. Officials said the girl didn't see the westbound SUV and pulled out in front of it. Despite breaking and swerving, there wasn't time to avoid collision.
When EMS personnel arrived, they found the car's frame collapsed around Waggy and his body pinned into a tiny space. Extensive extrication was required to remove him from the car before medical treatment could be administered.
Upon removing Waggy, they found him uncooperative because of a serious brain injury and had to administer a muscle relaxant shot to begin emergency first aid.
Because of the extent of his injuries, a rarely used emergency procedure called a crichothyrotomy was used. A crichothrotomy is an incision through the skin and some membranes of the neck to relieve respiratory obstruction.
EMS also had to administer three chest decompressions and put Waggy on heart monitors and an intravaneous fluid drip to get him to Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw.
In addition to physically caring for Waggy, his 16-year- old daughter also was in need of help: emotional reassurance. She and Waggy's wife both escaped from the accident uninjured. While EMS personnel worked on her father, the girl repeatedly stated, "I think I killed my dad." Workers responded by telling her Waggy was "in good hands, the best," and then proved it by not hesitating to administer necessary but rare emergency procedure.
No false promises were made to the girl and for that Waggy thanks the EMS service. He thanked them both for saving his life in those first critical minutes and for "the excellent handling of my daughter.
"The ministry emergency medical personnel provide goes way beyond what they do physically for their victims," Waggy also said.
From KCH he was picked up by Samaritan Air Ambulance and taken to Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, where doctors doubted his chances of survival.
At one point, when his blood pressure had falled too low even to operate, doctors reportedly planned to disconnect him from artificial breathing machines. Just as they planned to conference with his wife, his vitals returned to normal and he underwent surgeries.
At Parkview, which Waggy called "unequalled in patient care," Waggy spent time in the neurological ward to deal with a brain injury that still troubles him. Now, months after the accident, he still suffers short-term memory problems.
After his time in neuro, he was transferred to the Rehab Hospital of Indiana and spent two weeks there in rehabilitative therapy before going home. He recently returned to work on a part-time basis.
Since his accident, Waggy has stayed in contact with Multi-Township EMS and also doctors at Parkview, whose teamwork he credits as saving his life.
