WAUKESHA, Wis. - A Wisconsin National Guard medic on his way home from drill sprang into action to assist a motorist injured in a traffic accident.
After drill in Racine July 10, newly promoted Spc. Tyler Lechner of Company C, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, was stopped at a four-way intersection in Waukesha when a motorcycle T-boned a truck right in front of him.
Lechner is a combat medic who had just completed 16 weeks of medic training in February. He got out of his car immediately and ran toward the scene, telling another bystander to call 911 on his way.
“Even if I didn’t know what I was doing, I would still try and help as best I could. But we had been through training exactly like this situation, so I knew what to do right away.”
Lechner said he “snapped to my instincts of what we learned in training.”
He checked the motorcyclist for responsiveness and a pulse and continued assessing for other visible injuries.
Within a few minutes, the motorcycle caught fire from the oil spilling out of it. Lechner and a bystander dragged the motorcyclist to safety and stayed with him until an ambulance arrived.
Fortunately, not only is Lechner a combat medic for the Wisconsin National Guard, he also works in the emergency room department at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.
“I felt confident in my skill set because I also work in a hospital where it’s not out of the norm to see patients like that,” he said. “It felt like instinct to help.”