Freewheeling Blog: Saving Souls, Saving Lives

Most people know my dad Carl Taylor for his years as a pastor; turning 90 today, he is still a pastor in many ways. But after Carl left the ministry, one of his roles was emergency medical technician.

Living in a small town south of San Antonio, Carl joined the local volunteer ambulance crew and became certified as an EMT. Carl's first ambulance run arrived at a bloody fatality accident. Although he would sometimes faint at the sight of his own blood, Carl could deal with others' injuries in a spirit of determination and love.

It wasn't unusual in a small town to tend to people you knew. That was the case when an experimental small plane crashed in a field. On call that night, Carl raced to the scene with the crew, finding an acquaintance I'll call "J.R."

Tangled in the wreckage, J.R. had suffered serious internal injuries. The team extracted him and dashed toward a San Antonio hospital.

But a huge threat was too quickly playing out. The local ambulance crew wasn't authorized to administer intravenous fluids. Blood pressure dropping, J.R. would die before they could reach the hospital.

Carl was driving the ambulance, his mind racing as fast as the vehicle, trying to think of a lifesaving solution. If only a San Antonio (Bexar County) unit was transporting him, J.R. would have a chance.

Carl formed a plan. He called his dispatch office and requested a Bexar County ambulance to hurriedly meet them at the county line. Perhaps J.R. could hang on that long. Once in the other unit, those first responders could sustain his life the rest of the way.

As he crossed the county line, Carl could see the lights of the approaching ambulance and pulled over. The two emergency teams hastily transferred J.R. from one vehicle to the other and initiated the I.V. The other ambulance sped away as Carl turned his transport around. Adrenaline releasing its grip, Carl's hands shook on the steering wheel as he realized his idea and the skilled work of the other crew would allow J.R. to survive the plane crash.

My dad's faithfulness and eloquence saved souls as a pastor. On this near-fatal night, his quick thinking saved a life.