Lessons Learned from a Life-Threatening Accident

Reece Pettersen

Reece Pettersen

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We were very lucky that a dear friend of ours is going to fully recover from a terrifying accident last weekend in Glamis. I am going to leave details of the accident out of this post and focus on what I learned, including precautions that could have helped in the situation.
  • Wear your helmet and neck restraint- The driver suffered a severe concussion and was unconscious for +10 minutes due to whiplash and the back of his head hitting the seat. I believe that with a helmet and neck restraint he would have avoided the concussion and brain bleed.
  • Save Reach Air Medical, BLM, rangers station, and 911 to your phone favorites- The accident occurred in the bottom of a dune that did not have cell service. Being the first responder and friend of the injured individual, I requested strangers find cell service and call in medical support. Service was limited around the crash site, so it was difficult to look online for Reach and BLM phone numbers- every minute counts. I also suggest having a Reach Air Medical subscription. They were the first responders and landed at the crash site without an EMT on the ground (approximately 45 min from time of accident).
  • Flashlight- The accident occurred at dusk. If it was night, it would have been very difficult for me to signal distress to ongoing vehicles. Luckily people saw me signaling for help and were able to assist. I believe this would have been nearly impossible at night without a flashlight.
  • Starlink- I will be mounting a starlink mini to my car. While newer iPhones are equipped with Emergency SOS satellite connection, that does not include calling Reach Air Medical. With no service and inability to call Reach, you are limiting your available resources.
  • GPS- Take a few minutes to teach duners in your group how identify coordinates on a GPS. Emergency services can locate you by satellite on your phone, but coordinates will be extremely helpful for others to find the site.
  • Scissors or Knife in the Emergency Pack- We needed to cut his shirt off to check for injuries sustained. It was difficult to locate one and took too much time- again every minute counts. Also, I have seen crashes where it is difficult to remove seatbelts and having a knife to cut them off would be very helpful.
Please keep the responses to this post positive and let's not discuss the details of the crash, if you know what happened.

Also- Huge thank you to everyone that assisted me. I am beyond grateful for everything you did to help.
 
I've slowed down on my Glamis trips, however, I did subscribe to the Reach Air Medical service when I was banging the dunes. A small price to pay for security.
Do it.
 
I saw all the a-holes commenting on FB. Sorry you have to deal with that. I hope your friend makes a full recovery. Thanks for posting so we can all learn from this terrible incident. Just one question if possible. And certainly understand if you don’t want to answer. Was he wearing a helmet but no restraint or no helmet and no restraint?
 
Was he wearing a helmet?

If he was not, do you think just a helmet would have prevented his injuries?

Or he was wearing a helmet and he was not wearing a neck restraint that caused his injuries?

I just started wearing a helmet in my rail but no neck restraint. Been on my mind about shopping for one.
 
so do you think wearing a helmet would of helped with out a restraint or would of the neck injury be even more severe with the added weight of a helmet. when i was 18 or so i was on a volunteer fire dept i remember going to a call she was reaching for something in the car and went into oncoming traffic. the result of the impact headon at about 40 wearing a seat belt killed her instanly her neck was broken the considered it a technical decapitation the car didn't have airbags. i happen to know her went to school with her remember like it was yesterday and it was close to 35 years ago i always wondered if a helmet does more harm than good in a car with proper 5 point seat belt and no metal even close to your head. i do wear a helmet in the sxs not the sand car every helmet i buy is carbon fiber mx style very light latest and greatest mips installed. glad to hear everything will work out
 
Sorry to hear about your buddy...makes you realize that it's always best to prepare for the worst but hope for the best when ripping out there.
 
Praying that yore friend makes a full recovery.

Lessons Learned is so important here, the worst things happen to the unprepared. Glad you were there to help the situation from being worse.
 
Dockmaster said:
I saw all the a-holes commenting on FB. Sorry you have to deal with that. I hope your friend makes a full recovery. Thanks for posting so we can all learn from this terrible incident. Just one question if possible. And certainly understand if you don’t want to answer. Was he wearing a helmet but no restraint or no helmet and no restraint?
Click to expand...
He was not wearing a helmet or neck restraint.
 
JM PRO said:
Was he wearing a helmet?

If he was not, do you think just a helmet would have prevented his injuries?

Or he was wearing a helmet and he was not wearing a neck restraint that caused his injuries?

I just started wearing a helmet in my rail but no neck restraint. Been on my mind about shopping for one.
Click to expand...
The crash caused whip lash, first forward then back into the seat. The whip lash backward into the seat caused a brain bleed, unconsciousness, and a concussion. He was not wearing a helmet. I believe a helmet and neck restraint would have prevented the aforementioned injuries and allowed him to avoid life flight.
 
Jersey_Jeff73 said:
so do you think wearing a helmet would of helped with out a restraint or would of the neck injury be even more severe with the added weight of a helmet. when i was 18 or so i was on a volunteer fire dept i remember going to a call she was reaching for something in the car and went into oncoming traffic. the result of the impact headon at about 40 wearing a seat belt killed her instanly her neck was broken the considered it a technical decapitation the car didn't have airbags. i happen to know her went to school with her remember like it was yesterday and it was close to 35 years ago i always wondered if a helmet does more harm than good in a car with proper 5 point seat belt and no metal even close to your head. i do wear a helmet in the sxs not the sand car every helmet i buy is carbon fiber mx style very light latest and greatest mips installed. glad to hear everything will work out
Click to expand...
I am going to always wear my neck restraint with my helmet now. Helmets are getting very light, but the neck restraint will help keep your head on your shoulders and hopefully prevent a broken neck.

I wear a Simpson hybrid sport with a carbon impact helmet.
 
Thanks for posting this. Good info and reminders. Scary stuff that you think only happens to the other guy, but you never know.
 
Thanks for being proactive and sharing what you learned. My wife had a TBI in 2/2021, it was a life changing experience if we were as remote as you were it could have been much worse. I carry a Garmin inreach mini 2, Ive seriously considered getting a sat phone. Hope your friend makes an expedient full recovery.
 
Be great if blm has a channel on radio that can be used as an emergency since alot run radios.
 
raspadoo said:
Thanks for being proactive and sharing what you learned. My wife had a TBI in 2/2021, it was a life changing experience if we were as remote as you were it could have been much worse. I carry a Garmin inreach mini 2, Ive seriously considered getting a sat phone. Hope your friend makes an expedient full recovery.
Click to expand...
T-Mobile is pairing up with Starlink to provide sat connections with their cell network. Might be worth checking out?

 
Thanks for sharing your lessons. Too often macho-ism gets in the way of safety. As I get older the latter becomes more important.
 
Having been in similar situations a few times all your suggestions are spot on, the one thing to remember is to remain calm. Panic is the worst thing you can let happen when seconds matter.

77charger said:
Be great if blm has a channel on radio that can be used as an emergency since alot run radios.
Click to expand...
Yeah that would work. 99.9999% of the people that have radios out there feel that an Emergency would be what is for lunch.
 
I have these zip tied to all my roll bars...where I can get to them. Ontario strap cutter. Will work to get clothes off as well. also have tourniquets in all my vehicles.1742439560125.png1742439445131.png
 
I will post a separate thread about this, but I've harped on it several times on this site in other threads. Correct belts and seats are IMPERATIVE. Luckily he had the correct 5 point belts on, but the suspension seats in the car were not designed to take an impact of that size. I've been meaning to do a write up, and this accident has really furthered my stance on proper belts and seats. If you aren't going at jeep speeds, suspension seats have no place in your offroad car.

Another thing to add to the list Reece is some sort of neck stabilization. Reach obviously had the C collar and backboards when they arrived. But it would have helped to have something to stabilize his neck if it would have taken EMTs longer to respond.
 
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