GREENSBORO – Providing highway traffic control, changing tires, jump-starting vehicles are some of the daily tasks of the more than 50 North Carolina State Farm Incident Management Assistance Patrol drivers, however this week two drivers added life savers to their titles.
Around 4 p.m. Monday Jan. 8, near mile marker 100 on I-73, Triad IMAP driver Robert Remini came upon a woman standing outside the passenger side of her Honda Fit. She was panicking.
“I pulled over, turned on my lights, told her I was here to help and asked her what was wrong,” said Remini. “The look on her face was pure terror, telling me her child was choking on the seatbelt. I immediately called our Statewide Transportation Operations Center, told them we had a medical emergency and to send Emergency Services. I evaluated the child and saw that the toddler had wrapped the seatbelt around their neck twice, and attempted to pull the belt away but to no avail. I saw my fellow driver Denny Thrift on his nearby route and radioed him for support. We both tried with sheer strength to free the child but were having no luck.”
IMAP drivers have a plethora of tools at their disposal so Remini decided to use one he invested in three years ago.
“I grabbed my Smith and Wesson seatbelt cutter, looked once more at the child turning blue, and cut the kid loose.”
In the moments after, all Robert and Denny could hear was the weeping moans of a relieved mother, who knew had many more moments passed, her child may have died.
Emergency services arrived and provided treatment on the scene.
“When they removed the oxygen and we realized that the two could safely head home,” said Remini, “I handed the mother a comment card, it’s the one way we get tangible feedback on our jobs; but I knew though that at least this day, out of the many spent giving gasoline to drivers and jumping dead batteries, it was a job well done.”
If you are ever stranded in area covered by NCDOT State Farm Safety Patrol, simply dial *HP from your mobile phone for assistance.