Good citizen: Daleville honors Soldier firefighter

By Jay Mann, Fort Rucker Public AffairsJanuary 16, 2015

Good citizen: Daleville honors Soldier firefighter
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT RUCKER, Ala. (January 16, 2015) -- The City of Daleville honored a Fort Rucker Soldier Dec. 16 with its Citizen's Award for his selfless service after helping victims of a two-car automobile accident that occurred off post.

"I became an Army firefighter to help people," said Spc. Zachariah Christianson, Fort Rucker firefighter. "Helping people is really what we all join the Army to do. It was a great honor to be recognized by the city of Daleville, but it was more of a reward to see that the patient from the accident and her son were doing better."

The award ceremony was the first time Christianson had seen the patients since the night of the accident.

Nov. 25, he was driving off post with his family when they came upon the automobile accident.

"I saw that no emergency crews had arrived yet, so I blocked off the intersection with my vehicle to keep other cars from turning into the accident," he said. "My wife called 911 and helped take care of the little boy, who had minor injuries, while I determined which other people were injured. It was dark and raining, but when I entered the vehicle I could see a woman trapped in the passenger seat."

Christianson assessed the patient's condition and rendered assistance until emergency crews arrived at the crash.

"While they were using the Jaws of Life to try to get her out of the car, I sat in the backseat of the car trying to keep her conscious by talking with her," he said. "We lost her pulse at one point and she went limp -- we thought she had passed away. But she came right back in a matter of seconds.

"The Daleville emergency responders were very professional and I loved working with them," said Christianson. "They were very concerned, not only for the patients, but for my safety as well. One of the volunteer firefighters even put his coat over me to protect me when they were breaking the windows out.

"Because of the medical terminology I used to brief them on the patient's status when they arrived, they knew I had training," he added. "This allowed them to focus on getting her out and not having to worry about two things at once."

Rescue crews cut the roof off the vehicle, broke out all of the windows and cut the driver's seat out in order to get the victim out, Christianson said.

"I did not see her again until the city presented me the award," he said. "Seeing her again and seeing her son playing with toys was much more rewarding than any recognition I could receive. You can't compare the feeling to anything else -- knowing that she is alive and doing well.

Army Firefighters get a lot of training in things like basic emergency responder, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Combat Lifesaver Course, said Staff Sgt. Megan Payton, military firefighter crew chief.

"Specialist Christianson saw the accident scene and kicked right into the firefighter mentality with what he has learned from the Army," she said. "He did not have to stop. He took charge, and went above and beyond. If he had not been there, I do not know what would have been the outcome of that situation.

"People join the Army to become part of something bigger than themselves -- they want to help out." Payton added. "Often, they don't know the scope of their help while it is happening. Christianson sat in the backseat to aid and protect the patient as they were breaking glass and ripping the vehicle apart around him. But he was only thinking about what he could do to get the patient out and to better treatment and better aid. As firefighter Soldiers, we go to a chaotic scene, and take the chaos and try to minimize it as much as we can."

Christianson said that as a Soldier he just kicked into work mode. "I saw that people needed help and I went to help them."

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