Firefighter commends student’s Good Samaritan act

When Minneapolis Firefighter Wayne Jenderny was dispatched to a report of a cyclist injury near the corner of Oak Street and Washington Avenue last Friday, the 911 dispatch operator informed him that a passerby was on scene and would alert his crew to the injured cyclist’s location. 

He received more than that when he arrived.

“This young woman was also able to give us all the pertinent information of the patient’s condition and description of the accident,” said Jenderny, realizing she had assessed the patient’s alertness and orientation prior to his arrival.

“At this time I realized that not only did we have someone who had medical training but also the natural ability to control an emergency. With disregard of her own needs at that moment she acted upon the needs of a stranger.”

After learning that the Good Samaritan, Ashton Haake, was a junior at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, Jenderny felt compelled to email Dean Connie White Delaney to make her aware of Haake’s impressive actions.

“She rendered care, directed emergency vehicles to the precise location and gave report. Most noteworthy, from both our crew and the Hennepin County Medical Center paramedics on scene, she gave report calmly as though she had been doing this before. It was something we rarely come across and I felt it deserved recognition,” Jenderny wrote to the dean. “We just don't see people stop and render care for their fellow man these days.”

Haake, who is also a nursing assistant at University of Minnesota Medical Center, says she only reacted as she thinks most others would. But she adds the experience brought to life her classroom lectures. “We’re learning so much about interprofessional collaboration and seeing something like this shows how important it really is,” she said.