March 1, 2023 Cleveland County sheriff’s deputies and EMS workers worked as a team to free workers trapped inside a U.S. Postal Service Training Center significantly damaged by a tornado.
By Jeff Elkins Source The Norman Transcript, Okla. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
When downed power lines prevented paramedics from reaching two injured workers inside the U.S. Postal Service Training Center on Sunday night, they turned to sheriff’s deputies for assistance.
The Norman Regional Emergency Services workers and the deputies from the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office worked as a team to free the workers from the facility, 2701 E Imhoff Rd.
When paramedics arrived at the center, which sustained considerable damage from an EF2 tornado, they were greeted by sagging power lines that blocked their ambulance.
So Riley Furman, an EMSSTAT medic, and deputy Jacob Overling, came up with a plan to use a low-profile police car to get closer to the building and evacuate the patients.
Overling said he happened to be in the area as the storm came through, and was glad he was “in the right place at the right time.”
“EMSSTAT came up behind me, and they were unable to pass because of the power lines, and we came to the idea that we should load them up in my car,” he said.
According to a news release from Norman Regional Health System, the two agencies’ collaboration and “quick thinking led to successful transport and treatment.”
I asked (the deputies) if they’d be willing to kind of work with us and take me into the building under the wires and everything and use their cars kind of as the middleman to move patients,” Furman said.
Furman said she grabbed her jump bag, which contains supplies like dressings and scissors, and got in Overling’s patrol car.
Sheriff’s Capt, Saysha Cornish spoke on behalf of her deputies at a news conference Tuesday afternoon at Norman Regional Nine on Ann Branden Boulevard.
Cornish said the two injured workers, a male and a female, were distraught, though fortunately, their injuries were minor.
“We’re taught to, you know, try to calm the situation, and we know it’s a difficult time,” she said. “But my deputies did a fantastic job and told them that, ‘we’re here to help,’ and tried to reassure them that we were going to get them out.”
Overling loaded up the male worker, while a fellow deputy transported the female.
Furman said the process of reaching the two injured individuals took about 15 minutes, adding she was relieved their injuries were minor and no one else was hurt. Both patients were brought to nearby Norman Regional Nine for treatment.
She said EMSSTAT receives natural disaster training, however every scenario is unique and requires a different approach.
“… it takes experience of whoever is there that day to kind of make those plans and knowing what resources you have (available at the time),” Furman said.