A Richmond student said it was thanks to her first responder training that she was able to step in at the scene of an accident.
Seventeen-year-old Priya Mahil was driving home from work on Saturday (Feb. 26) around 6 p.m. when she saw an older man who had been hit by a car while riding his bike, at Vulcan Way and Sweden Way.
“I saw that people were helping him across the street and then he just laid down,” said Mahil, who is in Grade 12 at Cambie Secondary.
“I realized that …he was hit with enough force for his helmet to fall off. I realized that I had to put him into this spinal motion restriction.”
Mahil helped stabilize the victim's head at the scene until first responders arrived.
She said she knew what to do because she received her first responder certification through Cambie Secondary’s medical science program last year.
Sarah Ardat, who teaches the program, said many people don’t know what to do in that type of situation.
“It is scary, and you know that people are looking at you to fix something that you may not necessarily be able to. So, the fact that (Priya) had the confidence to pull over and she did say, she was the only kid at the scene… She took full control and made (the other people there) listen to her, which I’m very proud of.”
The medical science program has recently expanded to include an emergency medical responder course, which Mahil is currently taking.
“It will certify her as an emergency medical responder,” Ardat said. “So, when the kids are done this course, if they want, they can go get licensed and if they get licensed, they can work as paramedics.”
Ardat said she often tells her students that its better to have these skills and not need them, than to need them and not have them.
“Some of the skills we practice, I tell them, it might be boring, because it’s repetitive, but hopefully, when you do have to deal with a situation, you’re sort of just working on autopilot where you’re not thinking, and you’re just springing into action, which is what Priya did.”
Mahil said she was “pretty happy” that she got to use her training and wants to go into the medical field.
