A couple of small town firefighters encountered some urban drama when an Oxford ambulance was flagged down like a taxi on the streets of Pontiac to transport a gunshot victim to the hospital early Friday morning.
Fire Capt. Terry Roeher and Firefighter/EMT Ben Horton were in the process of transporting an Oxford woman with a non-emergency situation to the POH Regional Medical Center when they stopped for a red light at the intersection of Huron and Perry streets around 1:44 a.m.
All of the sudden they heard a lot of honking from a vehicle behind them.
Roeher, who was driving, assumed it was just an angry driver venting a little road rage until somebody got out and approached the ambulance.
‘Some guy jumps out and hangs on the side of our rig,? Roeher said. ‘He starts screaming, ‘My brother’s been shot! You need to help him!??
Given POH was ‘literally across the street,? Roeher directed Horton, who was riding in the back, to allow only the victim, a 22-year-old Pontiac man, inside the rig.
‘My gut feeling was to help the guy out and do what we could do,? Roeher said. ‘That is our job to help people out.?
Apparently, the man had been shot in the back of the head/neck area, but was still able to walk and talk.
‘The cops kind of said it’s a neighborhood quarrel going on wherever the kid lives,? Roeher said. ‘They’ve had a shooting every month up there.?
According to Horton, there wasn’t much blood.
‘It was like he’d cut himself,? he said.
Horton applied pressure to the wound until they arrived at the hospital.
According to Roeher, the bullet was found lodged near the victim’s right carotid artery, which is located in the neck. The victim was later moved to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
‘That’s the big artery. If it would have hit the carotid artery, he’d probably be dead. So much blood flows through there,? said Nancy Hunger, EMS coordinator for the Oxford Fire Department. ‘Even if (the bullet had) nicked it, he would have probably bled out so fast.?
‘It sounds like he got pretty lucky,? Roeher noted.
For someone like Horton, a 20-year-old who’s been with the department since July 2006 and got his EMT certification in August 2008, the experience a true trial by fire.
‘It was more like nerve-racking than anything,? Horton said. ‘You’re in the middle of Pontiac. It’s one o’clock in the morning. You’ve got a victim with a gunshot (wound). Are they coming after him to try to finish the job? Are they coming after us to try to kill us because we’re helping this guy? You don’t know what’s going to happen next.?
Despite being young and relatively new as an EMT, Roeher said Horton ‘did a really good job? under pressure.
‘There’s just no way to know how you’re going to react because there’s nothing that’s textbook about that,? said Roeher, a member of the department since 1992. ‘There’s no training to go on. You’ve got to go with your gut instinct.?
This was the third gunshot wound to head/neck area Roeher’s dealt with in recent months.
The first involved an Oxford woman who was shot in the face in October of last year, while the second involved a Utica man who was shot in the face while driving through Metamora Township March 1.
‘It’s been crazy,? Roeher said.