TRANSPORT AMERICA PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVER PERFORMS CPR ON A BABY

06/08/2011
Alexandria, Virginia

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) is pleased to name Alton Greeson, a professional truck driver for Transport America of Eagan, Minnesota, as its latest Highway Angel.

It was about 8:40 a.m., on April 24, 2011 (Easter Sunday), and Greeson was about to go through a toll booth near Carteret, New Jersey, on his way to pick up a load. To his surprise, he saw a pick-up truck that had somehow overturned and landed on a 3-foot high Jersey barrier that separated the toll lanes.

At first, he assumed the incident had happened previously and that no one had removed the pick-up yet, but then he saw passengers exiting the vehicle and realized that the accident was fresh. No one had stopped to help yet, although one of the two toll booth operators was in the process of calling 911.

As the other toll booth operator passed Greeson’s truck, heading for the scene, Greeson asked if he could help because he had many of years of experience as a paramedic. She said yes, so he parked the truck out of the way and approached the pick-up. He saw two adult, female passengers and a baby. The baby was lying on the floor underneath the steering wheel, not breathing.

“Grab that baby; it’s turning blue!” the operator told Greeson. Greeson began performing pediatric CPR on the baby until a state trooper arrived. Together, he and Greeson cleared the baby’s blocked airway and used a defibrillator to keep the baby alive until more emergency personnel arrived. Unfortunately, the baby did not survive.

This is the first time that Greeson has found himself able to help at the scene of an accident in the two years that he’s been a professional driver. “If I ever see anything like it again, I’ll definitely be helping again,” he said. “Even if a load is late, a life is more important.”

Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.