Madison County Commission Chair Dale Strong pulled a man with no pulse from a wrecked car that was pouring gas on Saturday.
Strong was traveling on I-65 North when he turned around to come to the rescue of a crashed motorist, whom he pulled from the vehicle and then performed CPR on. Strong gave this account of his actions on his Facebook page.
“Traveling I-65 North today returning from a funeral in Birmingham … I saw a vehicle off the side of the road on I-65 South that just did not look right,” Strong said on Facebook. “No one had stopped, and it appeared from a distance no one was in the vehicle. Something just told me to exit, go back and check things out. I quickly realized the vehicle had flipped and landed back on its wheels in a ditch. The wreck had just occurred and gas was pouring out of the vehicle. Another step or two and I could see an unconscious man in the front seat.”
“Called 911 to get help rolling while getting my trauma bag,” Strong said. “As I opened the drivers door … I reached to check for a pulse. The guy had no pulse and was not breathing. By this time (one) man stopped to help me get him out of the vehicle. Started CPR … within minutes I saw Cullman Emergency Medical Services pulling up. Defibrillated the patient, applied Lucas, started IV, pushed cardiac drugs and boom his heart starts beating, regains his color and we have a pulse. He went back into cardiac arrest and was converted again regaining pulse and a good heart rate.”
“Thankful to the guy that stopped to help me get this 6’3″ guy out so we could attempt to save his life … and Cullman EMS for responding so quickly,” Strong said. “As I pulled into my driveway at home still trying to digest what all had occurred this afternoon I got word that he is still alive.”
“Dale Strong is a very good paramedic; this was his career prior to holding a political office,” Huntsville area economic developer Nicole Jones told the Alabama Political Reporter. “He has worked as a 911 dispatcher and with Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, Huntsville Med-Flight and with Monrovia Volunteer Fire Department. Dale even met his wife Laura when she was a nurse in the ER at Huntsville Hospital.””
“God certainly placed the right person in a hurt man’s path,” Jones said.
“I can not believe it!” Strong said. “I saw God at work today in so many ways at mile marker 306 on Interstate 65. Joshua 1:9”
