On Monday, June 2, 2008, firefighters and firemedics were dispatched to Yester Oaks Apartments in Mobile, Alabama to find that a 78-year-old male employee of the complex had fallen down a deep concrete drainage ditch that crosses the property.
The patient had landed on his right side and had pain in his right arm and shoulder along with some small abrasions to the right elbow and knee.
After medical treatment began, a tactical decision was made to extricate the patient from the ditch using a Reeves Sleeve. The Reeves Sleeve is generally used to secure accident victims and pull victims up a steep and dangerous grade by rope.
The mission was accomplished in a highly efficient manner, and earned accolades for firefighter Raymond Easley for quick thinking and proper use of the right patient immobilization equipment.