Lauding acts of heroism
Somerton/Cocopah Fire Dept. presents awards for rescue efforts during ATV crash in canal
A member of the public and a number of public safety personnel members were recognized for their quick thinking and extraordinary efforts that saved the lives of two teenage boys during a special awards ceremony at last week’s Somerton City Council meeting.
Chief Paul De Anda of the Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department presented five different department awards to 13 individuals, including its Civilian Heroism Award, which went to APS employee David Wayne Hooker. Cocopah Tribe Chairwoman Sherry Cordova was also at the presentation.
The ceremony was to honor the selflessness, poise and preparedness of everyone involved in a dramatic rescue on May 19 following an ATV wreck in a drainage canal.
On that day, Hooker was taking a lunch break by the Somerton Main Drainage Canal at Avenue E and County 17th Street, where the canal intersects with the Somerton Canal, running parallel to Avenue E.
At about 1:10 p.m. Hooker saw two boys riding on an all-terrain vehicle on the access road of the Somerton Canal toward the main drainage canal, which cut across it.
Unable to stop in time, the quad went airborne and crashed into the other side of the drainage canal, where it rolled into the water. Both boys, neither of whom were wearing helmets, were thrown from the quad and landed inside the canal.
Hooker immediately ran down the steep incline of the canal bank and kept the two unconscious boys’ heads above water so they wouldn’t drown. When a passerby refused to help, he placed the two extremely injured teens close to the canal bank and went back to his APS service vehicle to call 911.
He then went back down into the canal and stayed with the boys until the Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department arrived on scene.
Upon their arrival, Capt. Rogelio Gonzalez assumed command on the topside canal bank while firefighter Clemente Ballesteros went down to relieve Hooker and keep the adolescents above water. Firefighter Arturo Burruel and firefighter Carlos Muñoz also began to provide patient care prior to rescue removal efforts.
While Ballesteros continued to keep one boy’s head above water, Burruel and Muñoz moved the other over to the canal bank, where they then carried him up the very steep 25-foot embankment to the top of the canal.
Once out of the canal, Gonzalez assisted paramedics Israel Carbajal and Muñoz in providing advanced life support to the patient. By this time more units had already arrived on scene and a helicopter ambulance had been requested, due to the severity of the injuries.
Meanwhile, all the necessary rescue equipment had been prepared, with Burruel, Battalion Chief Ray Smith and Ballesteros using it to safely pull the second boy up the canal embankment, with Capt. Michelle Magaña, Det. Araceli Juarez and officer Daniel Magdaleno of the Somerton Police Department assisting.
The second patient was also immediately placed into full cervical and spinal immobilization. Gonzalez established a landing zone for the air ambulance and Magaña attended to Hooker, who was shaken up by the incident.
Juarez also assisted with equipment and ensuring that the IV lines that had been established weren’t lost. Capt. Javier Hernandez and firefighter Hector Saenz, who both had been off duty, arrived on scene and also assisted with patient care.
Both boys were then transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center, one by Somerton/Cocopah ambulance and one by a CareFlight helicopter ambulance.
Dispatcher Mark Callaway was by himself during the incident and maintained communications with five Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department vehicles, three police department vehicles, two sheriff’s office patrol cars, the helicopter ambulance, the San Luis Fire Department ambulance and public works, all while continuing to take other calls.