Bridge helper

Soldiers Magazine, Nov, 2007 by Jerry Harben

DISASTERS can result in pain, crippling injuries and death. But they can also bring the best in the human character to the forefront.

Such was the case when the Interstate 35 bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minn., collapsed Aug. 1, killing nine people and injuring 100 others.

Emergency responders said the number of casualties would have been greater had people at or near the scene not immediately raced to rescue the motorists whose vehicles had plunged into the river.

Among the heroes that day were Army Reserve 2nd Lt. Nathan Lund, a student at the University of Minnesota Dental School, and his wife, Christine, a registered nurse.

2nd Lt. Lund said his brother saw the bridge collapse and called to tell him about it. Second Lt. Lund's immediate reaction was to go to the scene to help.

"Not without me, you're not," Mrs. Lund said. "We threw on our scrubs, grabbed a tourniquet, masks, gloves and a stethoscope, and ran to our car. We're five miles from the bridge and we got there within 10 minutes," 2nd Lt. Lund said.

After looking for injured people at the northwest and southwest corners of the bridge, they were told by a police officer that help was needed at the southeast corner--on the other side of the still unstable bridge.

An emergency boat then pulled up with three medical students aboard. They told the Lunds that a triage site had been set up on the bridge's northeast corner.

"We jumped in the emergency watercraft and roared off," 2nd Lt. Lund said. When the couple arrived at the site, they saw that "everything was on fire, live wires were making sparks," he said. And they could see about a dozen injured people lying in a row near the bridge.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

While Mrs. Lund listened to the lung functions of some of the injured, her husband checked vital signs. He helped load a man with a skull fracture into a pickup truck for evacuation.

"The bridge was still shaking and creaking, so we moved the patients about 30 yards away. Then four more pickup trucks arrived, and we put the other patients in them," 2nd Lt. Lund said.

"There weren't as many injured as I expected," he added. But the injured had suffered broken backs and ribs, and internal bleeding. One girl had fractured both of her legs. And one victim suffered a punctured lung from a broken rib.

After loading the injured for transport to a hospital, the couple moved to a Red Cross station and helped care for additional victims of the disaster.

The Lunds' actions were recognized when ABC News honored them as Persons of the Week on a Friday broadcast.

"I think you have an obligation to help people if you can," the young officer said when asked why he raced to the scene when so many people were running away from it. "As an officer, I think I should set a good example."

2nd Lt. Lund received a direct commission into the Army in January 2004 and is attending college, thanks to a scholarship provided by the Health Professions Scholarship Program.

He joined the active-duty ranks after he graduated from college in May. He's hoping to attain a residency in dentistry through the Army.

Mr. Jerry Harben works for the U.S. Army Medical Command Public Affairs Office,