This article was originally published by the U.S. Air Force.
In the early evening of Nov. 6, 2020, Senior Airman Pamela Restrepo, an aeromedical evacuation technician with the 927th Air Refueling Wing, was driving home after a long day of reserve duty. She had finished her technical training a year prior and that night her training kicked in when she saw something out of the ordinary.
“As I was driving down Bayshore Boulevard, it was dark and I saw a car on the side of the street in the grass,” said Restrepo. “I thought it was weird. As I got closer, I saw a girl standing in the street and little boy on the ground lying in the middle of the street. I parked my car, got out, and ran over. I introduced myself and told him I was a medic and proceeded to check him out.”
At that point, she said that she instructed a bystander to call 911 and continued to ask the boy questions and do a full body assessment. She found him to be in stable condition and continued to stabilize his spine until emergency responders arrived.
Later, Resptrepo said that she found out that the boy and his sister were attempting to cross the street in the crosswalk when he was struck by vehicle. The sister was able to jump out of the way in time, but the younger boy didn’t have enough time to react.
The paramedics said that he possibly had a fractured right arm and a concussion, said Resptrepo.
When asked how her military training prepared her for this situation, Restrepo replied, “Without my military training I definitely wouldn’t have known what to do. I may have driven off with the mentality that someone else would have helped him. But being a medic, I am on duty 24/7, it comes to use any time, any place – not just while I am at work. If anything happens, it is second nature now to want to help.”
“We here at the 45th AES are very proud of Senior Airman Restrepo and her selfless act on Nov 6th,” said Capt. Marc Hogan, the readiness officer in charge for the 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. “Her quick actions helped to stabilize the patient and get him medical care. She possibly risked her own life in traffic to save someone she didn’t even know. Our medics at the 45th AES are trained to administer patient care in adverse and stressful conditions. It is good to see this training is beneficial for service members and our community.”
