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By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
Steve Revier said his early medical training as a Navy Corpsman
taught him to improvise in an emergency situation — and that
ability paid off when he came across an injured hiker on a rural
trail last year.
The
Hood
River
resident was honored for his lifesaving leadership by the American
Red Cross at a special ceremony in March at the
Oregon
Convention Center.
He was commended for jumping into action and using his skills as a
paramedic to save the life of a
Portland
man. That individual had nearly drowned after falling into a creek
at the base of Oneonta Falls.
“I really don’t feel like I did anything that the average person
wouldn’t do,” said Revier, who works for American Medical Response
in Multnomah County.
He said the incident occurred while he was on a summertime hike
with his wife, Mo, their 4-year-old twins, Jacob and Gretchen, and
oldest son, Zachary, 6. Also included in the adventure were
several other relatives.
After climbing over a large logjam, the Revier family was resting
when a man came running down the trail. He told them that another
hiker, who was unable to swim, had fallen into the frigid creek
and been underwater for several minutes before being pulled to
shore by a friend.
Although the victim had been revived, Revier was told that he
might be suffering from head or neck injuries and was having
respiratory problems.
“The man who told me this was trying to get cell phone coverage so
I told him to keep running until he got to a place where he could
call for help,” said Revier.
“I then told my wife and kids to wait for me and I ran deeper into
the Gorge until I got to the scene of the accident.”
What Revier found in the cold and wet environment was a man
exhibiting hypothermia symptoms with an erratic heartbeat and some
respiratory issues.
“I laid him down on his side, in case that he vomited, and used my
backpack to insulate him while I ran back to the car and got some
supplies,” he said.
Revier returned with a blanket and fashioned a cervical collar out
of a splint to protect the victim’s spinal cord.
When medical crews arrived, he helped transport the hiker down the
trail. The patient was then airlifted to a Portland hospital.
“I always carry some supplies with me but my biggest ‘supply’ is
my experience,” said Revier.
He began acquiring that experience in 1988 as a volunteer
firefighter in Gaston, his hometown.
In 1990, Revier joined the Navy at the age of 17 and spent 10
years treating injured and sick Marines and sailors. His duty
station was sometimes aboard a ship on the high seas and, at other
times, in a hospital on land.
“I was at the age when I was just soaking everything up and I had
great mentors to teach me,” he said.
While in the military, Revier took classes and earned his
paramedic license. Upon leaving the armed forces, he took a job
for seven years with a fire department in Montgomery County, Md.
While there, he met and married Mo and they began raising a
family. In 2007, Revier found himself longing for a return to his
native state.
“I was just ready to come back home,” he said.
Mo agreed to the cross-country move and the couple began looking
for jobs in the Portland area. When she found a position
developing curriculum for the Hood River County School District,
they felt the rural community would be a good fit.
“There are so many benefits to Hood River; we can get up into the
mountains during our off time. It is a good place to decompress
because there is no end to any kind of recreation that you would
want to do,” said Revier.
He willingly commutes to Portland to serve in the field with AMR
because of the high quality of life on his days off.
During his four-day work week, Revier handles multiple calls for
help during a 12-hour shift. By now, he is confident that he has
the abilities to deal with any emergency that occurs under his
watch.
“I’ve been working in some sort of hospital or pre-hospital
environment for 22 years. As a result, I’m able to quickly work
out a plan about how I’m going to respond to any emergency,” he
said.
“I’m lucky that the career of medicine has really clicked with me
and it’s fun to help people.”
His advice to anyone heading out for a hike or other adventure is
to remember that, “Accidents never happen slowly; when things go
bad they go bad quickly” so it always pays to be prepared.
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