HAUGAN— It's sometimes minutes or even seconds that make the difference between triumph and tragedy in an emergency.
Over the weekend, two corporals from the Montana Department of Transportation Motor Carrier Services Department saved two lives.
"I was just sitting in the scale finishing up some paperwork for an inspection about 2:30, 2:40," Motor Carrier Services Corporal Emily Verbanac recalled.
Watch the video below to learn more:
It was a normal day at the Haugan weigh station inspecting trucks as they rolled through.
Then, a call came through on the radio saying a car was in a snowbank near the DeBorgia exit and its unconscious driver had his foot on the gas.
"A call came out for an unresponsive passenger, one mile up the road, and my partner and I contacted our lieutenant and told him what was going on and that we were responding," Verbanac told MTN.
Motor Carrier Services' Emily Verbanac and Megan Vinyard rushed to the scene.
"It's very rare, but with our training and experience, we were prepared to take action and jump when we needed to jump and help out the deputies," Verbanac said.
Mineral County Sheriff Ryan Funke was there and had to break the window to get both unresponsive people out.
"I was in my personal vehicle and grabbed a blanket, so that way, we could put him on the blanket," Vinyard said.
After getting the couple out of the car, both were given Narcan as a precaution and CPR was started while more agencies arrived on scene.
"Halfway through those compressions, he did a, just like a 'uh' and came to. They were just about to intubate her, and then she actually started breathing better," Vinyard explained.
While it's not something the Motor Carrier Services officers ever expected, they're both glad that prior training helped produce a positive outcome.
"I think it's the consensus from everybody that was there that if it was five minutes later or even a couple minutes later, we would have lost both of them," Vinyard detailed.
"It's not every day that this is something we handle and in the moment, it's somebody else's life. I'm trying to help him and everything I've got is what I'm going to give him," Verbanac said.
No update was given on the condition of the rescued couple.
