Tracy Nield, the survivor of an April 19 stabbing attack in Waldoboro, would not have lived to tell her tale had it not been for the quick and innovative thinking of Waldoboro Emergency Medical Service personnel. The Midcoast EMS Council recently presented the “Extraordinary EMS Call Award” to the Waldoboro EMS team for their swift actions.
“I’ve never in all my years experienced such a call,” Waldoboro EMS Director Mike Monck said, adding that the incident was what he would use to measure training against, because of the seriousness of Nield’s injury. “It was a horrific scene.”
On the night of April 19, the EMS team responded to a call for a female who had been assaulted with a knife on Controversy Lane.
The EMS team working that night included Dorcelle Brown, Kirk Andert, Richard Lash, Theresa Lash, and Andrew Santheson. Monck, Brown, and Andert were on scene and the three others joined them in the ambulance while the team waited for Lifeflight to arrive at the town office to take Nield to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Called to the scene at 9:46 p.m., the EMS team was out and back in 38 minutes. Lifelight arrived five to 10 minutes later, Monck said.
The hospital surgeons said his team saved Nield’s life. Maine EMS called Monck’s team up the following day to congratulate them on a job well done, he said.
“It isn’t any different than what any other EMS department in the country would do,” Monck said. “It’s what we do.”
A picture of Nield smiling with open arms is attached to a thank you letter she sent to the team.
“This affected everybody in the service,” Monck said. “I couldn’t be happier with the crew.”
Rural area emergency departments such as Monck’s don’t often experience such situations, he said. The medical personnel worked together as they faced the possibility that a victim could lose her life from having her throat cut. They had to act quickly and think outside the box.
