Alabama Extension, Experiment Station employees help injured driver

AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — Maggie Justice heard the wreck before she saw it.

The Alabama Extension Specialist and Auburn University assistant professor was working at the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter on Monday, Sept. 28, with her colleagues from the Department of Animal Sciences and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.

Justice was taking feed samples while Beef Unit Associate Director Lance Burdette and his crew finished putting up heifers in the pens bordering County Road 40.

“We were at the front of the station, so right near the road,” Justice recalled. “I had my back turned to the road, and heard this, just, bang.”

She assumed it was a train on the nearby tracks, until Burdette said, “Get out of my way.”

She turned, looked, and they ran.

Quick Response

A dump truck ran off the road on County Road 40, ejecting the driver from the vehicle.

“The E.V. Smith team, the professors and students all jumped into action to help the driver, stabilize him and keep him calm until help arrived,” said Jane Farr, east-central regional director for the Experiment Station. “We’re rural, so most first responders are volunteers, and it takes some time to get help.”

Burdette was the first to reach the wreck, followed shortly by Kyle Ross, E.V. Smith beef unit supervisor. Justice and fellow Assistant Professor Brandon Smith, along with a group of graduate students, followed in their own vehicle to help.

“Lance and one of the grad students, Chandler Kyle, were checking the truck for any other passengers, and Dr. Smith started to secure the road, because it is on a very sharp curve,” Justice said. “I’ve had enough CPR training and emergency training to know to keep the driver still until paramedics arrived.

“Three of the grad students — Ella Joyce Poston, Elizabeth Kisewski and Kaylee Abbott — all sat with him the entire time. Those girls sat on the ground with him for 45 minutes, talking to him, keeping him still and calm.”

Meanwhile, fellow graduate students Chandler Kyle and Trey Haddon grabbed sorting flags — typically used for working cattle — to flag and direct traffic away from the wreck.

“It was a very scary looking wreck,” Justice said. “But they all went into the mode of, ‘How can we help?’ I’m very proud of them.”

Meaningful Teamwork

Justice also credited Burdette and his team, who had the instinct to get to the scene and secure the area for the driver’s safety.

“I already love the E.V. Smith team because they just helped me so much in my career, but how they reacted on Monday was something else,” she said. “It was amazing.”

The team was concerned for the driver and followed up on his condition following the accident. Justice said they were relieved to hear he was recovering.

“We have some real good people on our teams,” Farr said. “Quite a stressful and unexpected Monday, but they handled it all professionally, with care and compassion.”