On January 19, 2008, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Chief of Surgery, Dr. Gregg Adams, was awakened at 1:45 am by a call from the Emergency Department. A young man had been hit by, and pinned under, a 50-ton light rail train. Fire, police and ambulance staff on site thought his leg might have to be amputated to free him from the wreckage.

The SCVMC surgical team sprang into action. They put anesthesia kits and amputation equipment together. And when Dr. Adams arrived at the hospital, Ehmy Ferrerras, an operating room nurse, and Laura Kates, a third-year emergency department resident, joined him on the Code 3 trip to the accident scene in a San Jose Police Department vehicle. Dr. Kelly Yeh, Diane St. Denis, RN and Pam Rumley, RN, helped to make sure the team had the right supplies they would need at the scene. They also started working on what the hospital needed to have in place when the young man was brought back to the Emergency Department.

The young man was severely injured. Teams of police, fire and paramedics had been working and they had been able to get him out from under the train by the time Dr. Adams and his team arrived. The paramedics had tried to intubate (put a tube through the mouth to help a patient breath) the young man. They hadn’t been able to because of extensive facial injuries.

Dr. Adams and Dr. Kates accompanied the patient back to the hospital and under really difficult conditions (a moving ambulance), Dr. Kates was able to perform a Rapid Sequence Intubation, helping the young man to breath. When they arrived at the hospital, Dr. Yeh, Diane St. Denis and Pam Rumley began stabilizing the patient, treating his injuries and got him into surgery.

Because of the efforts and abilities of everyone involved, this young man’s life was saved.