Airmen’s heroism, quick-thinking saves two lives after rollover crash on I-675 in Beavercreek

BEAVERCREEK — The heroism of two 88th Medical Group Airmen ended up saving the lives of two people after a potentially fatal rollover crash on I-675 South in Beavercreek on March 23rd.

Capt. Carly Kerr, an intensive care unit nurse at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, was driving to base on her day off to assist with a vaccination pod when she witnessed the accident on the interstate, according to a media release from the Wright-Patterson Airforce Base.

As soon as Kerr arrived on scene, she realized there was a man still in the vehicle’s front-passenger side, while the female driver had been ejected from the vehicle with a potentially fatal leg injury.

“Once I saw that the driver had a very badly broken left leg, I initially asked if anyone around had some sort of tourniquet that could be used to control the bleeding,” Kerr said. “Nobody had anything to stop the bleeding. Luckily, I was wearing my uniform that day, so I used my belt as a tourniquet.”

Kerr said once she assessed the driver to determine she was stable, she made her way to the passenger still inside the vehicle.

She then retrieved a seatbelt cutter, knife and window hammer from her own toolkit.

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“There was one other passenger who was awake and crawling around in the vehicle,” Kerr said. “I cut one seatbelt so the passenger could crawl out. Once a few of us helped him out of the vehicle and I assessed him, I bandaged a gash in his right arm.”

Shortly after, Dr. (Maj.) Eric Mozeleski, a Wright-Patterson Medical Center emergency room physician, approached the scene to help stabilize the the driver and passenger.

“I first got to the female driver and initially assessed her to see if there were any other things bothering her besides her leg,” Mozeleski said. “Usually, individuals with that kind of injury tend to be close to hysterical, but I could tell that she was in shock due to her pale skin and weakened voice.”

Mozeleski said that after he and Kerr stabilized both the passenger and driver, they waited for local emergency medical services to take the victims to Miami Valley Hospital.

Col. Patrick Miller, 88th Air Base Wing and installation commander, said he feels proud of the courage, commitment and service of Mozeleski and Kerr for their quick thinking and action.

“This is a great example of character and competence colliding with random occurrence to make the extraordinary happen, the importance of being ready and the value of deliberate partnerships with our off-base teammates,” Miller said.

Miller recently updated the installation’s strategic plan, which includes new values and characteristics he expects of each Airmen on the installation, the release said.

“Nobody ever wants these kind of accidents to happen, and I extend my commiseration to the victims and families who were involved. Those Airmen saw the situation and reacted without hesitancy, and this resulted in two lives saved so that those involved in the accident could go back home to their families,” Miller said.

Due to privacy concerns, Miami Valley Hospital has not provided any updates on driver and the passenger of the accident.

Cox Media Group