An E.M.S. Success Story
"The Jenni Haney Story"
The evening of December 1, 1999 started out just as any other in the life of 19 year old Gold Bar resident Jenni Haney. Jenni left her job at the Oh-La-Latte Coffee stand at 1:00 p.m. and decided to go home and take a nap before attending an evening youth function at her Church in Bellevue.
The otherwise normal evening took a dire turn just before 5:30 p.m. when Jenni's vehicle struck the guard rail and then a large delivery type truck on the bridge above the Snohomish River on State Route 522 just South of Monroe.
The Monroe Fire Department received the call at 5:30 p.m. from a residence on the other side of the bridge who heard the collision. The reported location of the incident (State Highway) triggered an automatic Motor Vehicle Accident Medic Response. This predetermined incident classification dispatched a Battalion Chief Vehicle, one Paramedic Unit, one Fire Engine, and one BLS Ambulance.
In some cases, the first arriving Fire Department Unit may determine that the level of medical care necessary for the victims to be minor and the Paramedic Unit can be canceled and be available for another Medic Response. In this case however it was immediately apparent to the first arriving unit Battalion Chief Leroy Schwartz that this was a very serious accident and that Advanced Life Support (Paramedics) would definitely be needed. Giving what is referred to as a "Short Report", which is a brief description of the appearance of the incident to the subsequent arriving units, Chief Schwartz reported "A high Speed vehicle accident with severe damage to the vehicles involved."
Chief Schwartz immediately instituted the incident command system and began to assign arriving units to perform needed tasks. The Paramedic Unit arrived first and was assigned by Schwartz to check the condition of the patients. Firefighter/Paramedic's David Ruddell and Pat Dehuff quickly checked both vehicles and immediately reported to Schwartz that Jenni was in critical condition. The Captain of the next arriving Fire Engine Mike Hill, was assigned to extricate Jenni from the severely damaged vehicle so she could be transported to the hospital.
In most vehicle accidents, the patients are carefully removed from the vehicle and placed on a backboard to immobilize the spine and reduce the potential for further injury to the spinal cord. However in Jenni's case, her breathing was so shallow that a lengthy extrication would not be an option so she was quickly removed to a backboard and a breathing tube was immediately inserted. Within one minute of his arrival, Chief Schwartz requested that Airlift Northwest be called to transport Jenni by air to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for immediate critical care.
As with all traumatic injury cases, Jenni's chances for survival hinged on not only the extent and type of her injuries, but also on her Rescuers and Doctor's efforts and proficiency. In what can only be described as extraordinarily efficient, the Fire Department was able to evaluate, extricate, treat her injuries, package and transport Jenny to the Helicopter Landing Zone at the Monroe Airport within only twenty minutes. Jenni was delivered to the Level 1 Trauma Care Center at Harborview Hospital well within the targeted "Golden Hour."
As a result of her accident, Jenni received numerous serious injuries that needed immediate and ongoing attention to correct. Jenni suffered a fractured Humerus, a compound fractured Femur, a fractured Pelvis, a fractured ankle, pulled knee ligaments, a lacerated Liver, and a punctured Lung. In addition to the numerous fractures and abrasions, Jenni also suffered a serious head injury, perhaps the most immediate life threatening of her injuries. Jenni was rendered unconscious after the impact and remained in a Coma for a full two and a half weeks following the accident.
When Jenni awoke, she was in the Intensive Care Unit at Harborview Hospital where she stayed until she was transferred to a care center specializing in rehabilitation from accidents located on Mercer Island.
Although some scars remain to remind Jenni and her loved ones of the horrific accident, Jenny has quickly recovered and leads a normal life just nine months after the collision that nearly claimed her life. Jenni is quick to credit her rescuers, the members of the Monroe Fire Departments B-shift with saving her life saying "God was in control of my life that evening and he sent the best Firefighters and Paramedics around to help me." Jenni feels that they went well beyond the call of duty in their efforts to save her.
Jenni's story is remarkable on many levels and can be certainly considered a miracle. It is uncommon for somebody to experience such a complete and full recovery when involved in such a serious accident with the nature and extent of injuries she received.
The driver of the other vehicle received relatively minor injuries and also made a full recovery. The accident investigators surmised that Jenni must have fell asleep behind the wheel causing her to collide with the guard rail and the truck. Alcohol was not involved in this accident.
