Sierra
Vista Company
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Catastrophe Breeds Heroes On Saturday, October 16, 2004, a “Coyote” came through Sierra Vista, carrying 17 illegal aliens in the bed of his pickup truck. He was traveling nearly 100 miles per hour, having been pursued by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department deputies. Though they had abandoned the pursuit, Sierra Vista Police Department officers deployed tire deflation devices, designed to create multiple small, “slow-leak,” holes in the tires, eventually resulting in a halted vehicle. The “Coyote,” (how apt the name!) after the pursuit had been terminated, continued on at the same high rate of speed. Seeing the officer deploying the deflation device, either trying to ram the officer, or attempting to evade the deflation device, the “coyote” hit a curb, spun through the air, and crashed onto a number of vehicles stopped at the intersection. As it turned out there were several dead, including two innocent motorists. In the words of seasoned Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, this was “the worst accident” they had ever encountered. Another described it as being “like the result of a truck bomb.” There were bodies everywhere, some outside the vehicles, some beneath, others trapped inside. Five were dead, with many more critically injured. SGT (Acting) Tamara Rodriguez, having just presented a class at ARTA South, was nearly engulfed in the accident and was able to begin immediate assistance as EMS personnel and police arrived. She called me and advised that there had been a “large and serious” accident. I called SVPD Dispatch and asked if they required any help. They declined, as they were still assessing the situation. Despite this, I attempted to notify our Company and place them on “hot” standby. Well… since it was Saturday afternoon, most people were out and about, some were on duty and several were out of town, my resources were limited. A short while after I called SVPD, they called back and requested “as many Arizona Rangers as I could provide.” I called Lt Don Hall at ARTA South and asked that he suspend the Basic Blitz and send all personnel to the accident locale. I went to the scene as well. Within minutes, the talented instructors and equally talented, if less experienced, students were on scene. They provided traffic control and other services for a period of hours. The following personnel were in attendance, or instructing at the ARTA South Basic Blitz: PR Arlene Cravens,
Sierra Vista Fortunately for the Sierra Vista community, three Probationary Rangers in the Basic Blitz held unique professional certifications. Probationers Lilla DeLuca, Psy.D., Forensic Psychologist; Kenn Barrett, PhD, Organizational Psychologist; and Arlene Cravens, MS, RN, Psychiatric Nurse, were able to render critical incident grief counseling, enhancing the value added by the Arizona Rangers. On Sunday, October 17, 2004, De Luca, Barrett and
Cravens conducted a stress debriefing session for all EMS and police agency
personnel involved in the horrific accident. This capability does not exist
elsewhere within Sierra Vista, and those involved in direct support of the
accident victims were suffering from their experience. The agencies involved
were profuse in their appreciation for the Arizona Rangers. (See
Certificate of Appreciation from SVPD Though the Arizona Rangers are intricately involved in Sierra Vista and Cochise County, our ability to provide nearly 20 Arizona Rangers on short notice, to free law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel to do what they do best, was impressive. The added dimension, an organic capability to provide psychological support to our agency comrades, did not go unnoticed. Accolades were received from various agencies. The Sierra Vista Company is now “packaging” the additional capabilities and will, on request, provide these and other needed services to our local agencies. My hat is off to these fine Arizona Rangers… “Few but proud, then and now.”
CPT Mike Dennis |
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