Standing on the helipad in front of the Air Evacuation Helicopter at the Wise Regional Health Center, junior Brenna Prentice smiles and accepts a certificate and medal from firefighter captain and 2003 graduate Nathan Mara. On Monday, Apr. 24, Prentice was recognized for her active use in first aid and CPR during a recent motorcycle crash.
“We were coming back from state at Corpus Christi and some motorcycles were behind us,” she said. “We saw a man flip his bike because he hit a patch of dirt.”
Prentice never dreamed that a fourth place title in first aid and CPR the weekend of the state Skills USA competition would directly be applied to a real life situation on the bus ride home.
“To turn around and have that opportunity to showcase those skills is kind of like a once in a life time experience,” Skills USA member and junior Megan Kirkelie said.
They saw the accident as they drove south of Waco on I-35. The bus turned around and Prentice and Skills USA director Ricky Stutt rushed to the scene to offer assistance.
“She already had the first aid kit off the bus and she already had it in her hand ready to go,” Stutt said.
However, Prentice and Stutt weren’t the only people helping.
“There were some people already directing traffic,” Stutt said. “Another driver was already on the scene and he was actually a paramedic himself.”
The paramedic and Prentice worked together to stabilize the man in the crash.
“He said that his name was Billy; he was lying on the side of the road and his Harley was crashed next to him,” Prentice said. “Nothing was wrong with his Harley; he was just scared as can be.”
Prentice held Billy down to prevent any more injuries or future impairments.
“They want to move all the time; they don’t seem to understand that if they move they could be paralyzed,” she said.
Prentice and the paramedic noticed there were injuries that needed immediate attention.
“We rolled him on his side and we realized that his shoulder was dislocated and we popped it back into place,” she said
As soon as the ambulance arrived, Billy was loaded on to a stretcher and taken to Hillcrest hospital in Waco.
“It was weird because all of a sudden everything went back to normal,” she said. “It didn’t seem like anything happened at all.”
The Skills USA program enabled Prentice to become involved in first aid and CPR competitions.
“That’s why we teach first aid and CPR,” Stutt said. “It can be used anywhere, anytime by anybody. It made me really proud of her because what she did was real world,”
To get her first aid and CPR certification, Prentice took classes from Mara and firefighter James Carr in first aid and CPR for three months every day after school to gain her certification.
“She’s learning things that nurses, firemen and EMTs would learn in the real world,” Marra said. “She’s learning it in a controlled atmosphere and it’s going to help her unfold when she graduates. It might even help her make a real decision on her career.”
Prentice accepted her awards from Mara and firefighter James Carr. She was also recognized by Lisa Ponce, director for Air Evacuation, and Air Evacuation membership sales manager Curtis Gates with useful emergency items including a first-aid kit.
“I am so proud of her. She’s a great a kid,” Prentice’s mother Jennifer Prentice said. “She’s always been the one who wants to help people.”
This experience gave Prentice a realization on what she wants to do with her life; work as a firefighter or an EMT.
“It’s what I want to do. It’s what I’m going to college for. I love doing it,” she said. “I just love helping people; I enjoy working in the medical area.”