Airman’s quick thinking saves incapacitated driver

  • Published
  • By Steve Warns
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  Capt. Robert Carter, budget analyst for the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, has a motto.

“Don’t pass up a problem,” Carter said. “It could be small or big, but don’t pass up a problem. Just because it’s not affecting you doesn’t mean it’s an issue.”

On June 16, the captain’s quick thinking and decisive action averted a serious problem during rush hour on Interstate 10 just west of San Antonio. He was traveling to a softball game when he noticed a four-door sedan inching slowly up the on-ramp toward the interstate.

The captain peered through the sedan’s back window and saw Peter Craig Higgins, the driver of the sedan identified in the San Antonio Police Department’s report, slumped over in the middle of the car.

“He couldn’t have been going more than 5 mph up the on-ramp,” Carter said. “Everybody’s passing him. I waited five seconds, and then I realized something was wrong.”

Limited time to act
Carter put on his hazard lights, exited his SUV and ran toward the sedan, which was still moving toward oncoming traffic. When he got to it, he began banging on the sedan’s left front window.

“He was out cold,” Carter said. “I thought he was dead or high. At that point, I really didn’t know what else to do. I kept banging, and I tried to punch out the window. Either way, he’s still heading out into traffic.”

The captain said he tried punching it numerous times with no success. Other drivers noticed Carter punching the window and offered to help. One woman pulled off to the side and hit the window with her metal tumbler.

“That did absolutely nothing to the window,” Carter said. “All it ended up doing was throwing coffee on me because I’m standing behind her.”

Another driver stopped and took out a pistol. After unloading the clip, he hit the window with the butt of his gun with no success.

“He asked me if I wanted the window shot out,” Carter said. “I said, ‘No, don’t shoot the window. It’ll cause more problems than it will help.’” 

With the sedan still moving, Carter said he tried punching the window again with no success. He switched from trying to punch out the front window to the back window because he realized glass would fly into Higgins’ face if the window shattered.

Another driver named Sal Rodriguez, who happened to be an EMT, pulled over and helped Carter finally shatter the window. Carter and Rodriguez injured their hands but they kicked open the window and opened the back passenger door. Only later did Carter realize he had in his car a softball bat and a knife with a heavy handle that could shatter windows.

“I thought, ‘Oh man, that would’ve been great’ but I didn’t think about it at the time,” Carter said. “It was, ‘Hey we got to try to get in there. This car is still moving.’ I didn’t know what else to do.”

After breaking the window, Carter pushed against the doorframe, while Rodriguez pushed in the front to finally stop the sedan.

“(Higgins) started to become conscious, and after about 10 to 15 seconds, he has enough consciousness to realize what was going on. We asked him to unlock the doors. (Rodriguez) ran around to the driver’s passenger door and got it in park,” Carter said.

Higgins, a diabetic, said he was discharged from the hospital earlier in the day and was heading home to Fredericksburg, Texas, when he passed out because of low blood sugar. Carter gave Higgins a can of soda to increase his blood sugar. By then, EMTs had arrived at the scene and transported Higgins to a hospital.

From the time the captain noticed something was wrong to when Higgins regained consciousness, a mere two minutes had passed, he said.

“A situation like that, every second counts,” said San Antonio Patrolman Hai Tran, who responded to the scene. “They stayed with him and checked on him until the EMTs arrived. They did a good job.”

Harrowing experience
Besides his Airman duties, Carter is familiar with being a first responder as a volunteer firefighter with the Bergheim Fire Department in Bergheim, Texas.

But this was a new, and scarier, situation for the captain, who works with multiple people and has gear to perform his duties as first responder.

“Never on my own have I experienced one like this where I’m actually one of the first ones on the scene in a non-firefighting capacity,” Carter said. “I didn’t know if he was alive or dead. I didn’t know if we were going to get the car stopped, and I didn’t have help at first. That makes it very tough when you’re by yourself.”

The captain’s action to save an incapacitated driver is consistent with his character, said Chris Underwood, financial integration manager for AFIMSC.

“Everything he does, he always puts others and the mission first,” Underwood said. “He’s just that type of leader.”

Airmen and others can heed Carter’s example, Underwood said.

“How many people just continue to drive by because it’s not your problem?” Underwood said. “He puts himself at risk and jeopardy as cars are flying by trying to help some random person passed out driving down the road.

“That shows what type of person he is,” Underwood added.