Young med student responded to bus crash

Kathiria Pagan, 18, has only been a medical assisting student at Everest University South Orlando campus for three months.

But the skills she's learned so far were put into action on Feb. 22, when she and her mother - traveling back to Kissimmee from Miami on U.S. 27 - came across an overturned tour bus full of senior citizens.

"Two gentlemen were trying to get the people out of the bus while my mother (an LPN) and I laid them on the grass," Pagan said.

The first passenger she tried to help was Joan Horsch, 78, from Abingdon, Va. Pagan said her pulse was 30 and she was bleeding excessively from her mouth.

"I asked for a bag or any plastic wrap so I could do CPR, but she died in my arms," Pagan said.

Still, there were dozens of other victims to treat, and Pagan and her mother went back to work while waiting for EMS to arrive.

They used clothing, sheets and anything else available to put pressure on wounds, and checked for any broken bones. When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, Pagan told them she was a medical assisting student. She helped them apply a neck brace and sling to two victims and assisted in starting an IV.

Like so many others who have spoken about the accident, Pagan said the victims were very calm as EMS workers came to their aid. She said most couldn't quite believe they were just in such a severe accident.

"An old man actually asked me, 'Oh, is this a dream?'" Pagan said.

It was no dream, and the reality of the situation was not lost on the young med student, either.

"The first time, when I got there, I was kind of like, 'OK, how do I start?'" Pagan said.

She calmed herself down by remembering everything she'd learned in class and then did everything step by step.

"It made me feel good when the paramedics said, 'thank you,'" Pagan said.

In the end, paramedics transported 30 patients from the accident scene. Both Horsch and a Cohasset, Mass., man, John Roy, 79, were pronounced dead at the scene. On Feb. 25, Charles W. Sherman, 80, of New Milford, Conn., died at Tampa General Hospital from injuries he suffered in the crash.

The accident occurred after the Sunburst tour bus was hit by a 2010 Mercury Marquis, driven by Betty J. Adams, 81, of Lake Placid. The bus overturned off U.S. 27, ejecting people on the road.

Pride of a campus

News of her heroic efforts reached the other 422 students on campus.

"We're going to have to let people know what she actually did, because she stepped out of her comfort zone, being a new student in the program," said Olga Santiago, program director at Everest University.

Pagan was recognized in a student spotlight for acting as a first responder at the bus crash.

"I'm absolutely proud that, first of all, she would stop," Santiago said, noting that other students have performed CPR at restaurants in the past, but nothing to the extent of the Feb. 22 Highlands County bus crash.

Pagan ultimately wants to become a registered nurse and work with children. Being on the scene of a real-life tragedy has only helped strengthen her resolve.

"I'm just thankful that I was there and I could help and I could do everything that I did," Pagan said.

The FHP continues to investigate. No charges have been filed.