Emily Johnson, a nurse practitioner from Seattle, was with family, docked in Echo Bay, when they heard a radio call for a plane crash and grabbed first aid kits.
“We were just taking it easy, hanging out on the boat.”
A Kenmore Air float plane had just made an emergency landing, slamming into the rocks off Sucia Island and later bursting into flames.
“We brought fire extinguishers and jumped on the dinghy over to shore and went through the woods, saw where they were already gathering survivors,” said Johnson. “Thankfully they had ten of the 11 already aboard, and they had already started a brief triage system of the most critical people and the lesser injured people.”
Johnson says it was quick thinking from a lot of helping hands, as survivors were put on two boats.
“This was totally not my realm, but having had medical training, it was really fantastic because there were like two EMTs, there was another trauma nurse practitioner on board myself, there was an ortho PA, and there was like an infectious disease doctor,” said Johnson.
Johnson says the group quickly treated victims, some who had broken bones.
“Someone was really smart and actually sliced open life jackets to take the foam out so that we could use it to splint broken limbs,” she said.
Johnson says, on top of injuries, victims were confused and traumatized – but all things considered, it easily could’ve been much worse.
“The fact that everyone was alive and everyone’s vitals were relatively stable is nothing short of a miracle.”
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