Grateful survivor says thanks to rescuers

Tom Bonner, 31, the victim of a rollover accident on Highway 160 last February, stopped by the Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Service July 13 to thank paramedic Jason Sanders for saving his life.

Ironically the other paramedic involved in keeping him alive, David Ladd, was answering a call in Las Vegas at the time. The accident occurred in Clark County at 2:55 a.m. Feb. 11.

Bonner's mother, Sandy Teece, used the occasion to criticize the rotation system used in Clark County to dispatch rescue helicopters.

"The closest one was nine minutes away, Flight for Life II stationed at PMC (Pahrump Medical Center)," Teece said. "They were nine minutes away, they were ready to go. They were called off because of the policy. Flight for Life Sloan was called and they didn't arrive for 58 minutes."

Teece said her son's jaw was locked and he needed assistance breathing after the accident, in which he was thrown through the windshield. Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Service records show there was a Pahrump crew at the scene for one and a half hours.

"I don't remember nothing. All I remember is going through the windshield," Bonner said.

Bonner went through three surgeries the day he was admitted to the hospital, was in the trauma intensive care unit at University Medical Center for two months and only recently was able to walk without a wheelchair. Bonner is now living in an assisted living home for the brain-damaged in Las Vegas.

Brian Donahue, a former air ambulance pilot and critic of the rotation system, outlined other instances where the policy resulted in delays, such as an accident in Alamo June 1 involving a spinal injury, in which it took a helicopter 59 minutes to arrive, 20 minutes later than the closest helicopter would've arrived. On Teece's Website, www.2savelives.homestead.com, Donahue details another instance in Indian Springs June 15 where an air ambulance helicopter was dispatched that was farther away from the scene than two other helicopters, a distance of 52 miles versus 25 miles.

Calls about the dispatch policy were referred to Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Steve Hansen, who was unavailable for comment after repeated phone calls.

Sanders said it's not uncommon for victims to return to thank them for their lifesaving work. An ambulance from Mountain Springs responded to Bonner's accident with a basic life support crew, but Pahrump had an advanced life saving crew with paramedics that responded, he said.

"A lot of people do send us thank you cards or we'll see them out and about, at the store," Sanders said. "I had a lady bring in her baby that we delivered in the field."

Thank you cards on the bulletin board at the Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Service include a message from a Pahrump woman who thanked the workers for their kindness picking her up on May 9 on Pahrump Valley Boulevard.

A Pahrump man, in a card dated July 7, wrote, "Tonight I had the experience of being in an auto accident on Highway 372 and Upland Avenue in the pouring rain."

He added, "I would like all of Pahrump to know what a fine, efficient and professional job our fire rescue personnel do on the scene."