Nova Scotia teen firefighter jumps into action at Coquihalla crash scene – Kamloops News
Photo: Jim Molloy
Ethan Molloy (left) and his father Jim Molloy (right) stumbled upon the scene of the accident on the Coquihalla Highway Saturday night.
A teenage Nova Scotia firefighter used his training to jump into action at a serious accident site on the Coquihalla Highway over the weekend.
Ethan Molloy, 17, has been a member of the Lantz, NS Volunteer Fire Department since he was 16. He was in BC vacationing with his father, Jim Molloy, when they encountered the accident Saturday night on Highway 5 between Merritt and Kamloops.
Two pickup trucks collided in the northbound lanes of the highway, which Ethan said was icy at the time. One of the trucks pulled a horse trailer.
He told Castanet that the horses had broken loose. When he arrived everyone else was concentrating on rounding up the horses and it seemed that no one had checked the second vehicle.
“I kind of went there and at first glance it looked like there was no sign of life in it. It wasn’t until I got a little closer and looked at the front of the vehicle – the engine was completely out of the vehicle. I looked back at the cab, which was kind of dented, and noticed a hand,” he explains.
Ethan crawled to the cab and found a man trapped inside with very serious injuries. The man was unconscious, his breathing was irregular and his pulse was weak.
Ethan was joined by a nurse who also stopped at the scene of the accident. They worked to do what they could for the man. Ethan applied pressure to a head wound and both he and the nurse monitored the victim’s vital signs until paramedics arrived. He also called 911 to update dispatchers on the situation and to request an upgrade of the call due to the severity of the pickup driver’s injuries.
He says it felt like a long time before the ambulance got there.
When paramedics arrived, they assessed the situation and asked the nurse to help them stabilize the man while Ethan did what he could to make things easier for them.
He removed the vehicle’s glass and part of the frame to improve access and create more space for the paramedics to work.
The injured man was eventually pulled from the wreckage and taken to hospital in critical condition.
Molloy says he received extensive first aid and first responder training with the Nova Scotia Volunteer Fire Department. That helped guide his actions on Saturday night.
“I speak for myself, but I know that for anyone who is a first responder, it’s one of two things – either you’re there to show, or you’re there to help and save lives and people rescue.
“In the back of my mind, I definitely know that if I hadn’t told my dad to stop and get out of the car, he probably wouldn’t even have had a chance to get into intensive care.”
He credits his older brother, who was also a firefighter, for encouraging him to join the Lantz Volunteer Fire Department.
“In Nova Scotia, they can start teenagers or younger people as young as 14 through a junior firefighter program. From there I started as a junior and slowly worked my way up. I will be a full member shortly, in the spring.”
The RCMP’s latest update said the man Molloy was helping to treat was alive at the Royal Inland Hospital.
