Emergency on the Mountain

“Ana! Leche!” Mama called.

Milk. It was Ana’s turn to get it. Ana sighed and shut her first-aid book. Her head hurt from reading in the dim morning light, but how else was she going to learn?

The milk pail banged against Ana’s shins as she trudged down the steep slope. Green mountains circled the misty valley. Across the valley was the dusty yellow road that connected this village to the next one eight kilometers away.  

Ana tethered the cow close to the fence. Somewhere below and out of sight lay Santiago, the second-biggest city in the Dominican Republic. And somewhere in Santiago, Ana knew, a group of volunteer doctors were gathering right now to teach medical skills to village nurses, or cooperadoras.

I should be there, Ana thought. Leta should have taken me with her. Hours ago, Ana had heard the roar of a truck in the darkness and realized that her neighbor Leta was beginning the long drive down the mountain to the meeting.

But Leta already knows everything, Ana thought. Leta had been the cooperadora since before Ana was born. She’d been delivering babies, pulling teeth, and bandaging wounds in the village for decades.

Fresh milk squirted into the pail. Leta thinks I’m too young to learn anything important, Ana thought. But she’s wrong. I am old enough to help. 

Ana lugged the milk back to where Mama was frying eggs in the cooking shelter, then grabbed some bread and wandered up to the road.

Rafi, a village boy, had gotten a donkey, and some kids had gathered around to see it. Rafi was 13, just a little older than Ana, but he was always doing something to get attention. Like now: he was trying to stand on the animal’s bare back.

No wonder they don’t trust kids with anything important, Ana thought, sighing.

She had just turned away when she heard a thud and a few screams.

Rafi lay on the ground nearby. The donkey stood several meters away.

“Rafi!” someone cried.

No answer. The donkey swished its tail.  

“Get Leta,” someone said.

Ana shook her head. “Leta’s gone to the city.”

The other kids seemed frozen in place.

Ana ran to where Rafi was lying. She dropped to her knees on the dusty road. “Rafi! Can you hear me?”

Rafi moaned and flopped his head back and forth in pain.

Ana saw that one of his legs was crooked, bent a little sideways between the knee and the ankle. A broken leg!

She remembered what the first-aid book had said about broken legs: If there is no ambulance, stabilize the bone before moving the victim.  

There certainly wouldn’t be any ambulance here. Ana looked back up the road. The other kids were still standing there, watching.

“Vin!” Ana called to one of the boys. “Go get Rafi’s mama, and find someone with a truck.” She turned to the others. “Give me your shirts. We need something to tie his leg with.”

As Vin took off running, the others huddled closer.

Rafi whimpered, and Ana said gently, “Rafi, you’ll need to go down the mountain for a cast. But first, I’m going to tie your leg so it doesn’t move around. Can you wiggle your toes?”

Rafi nodded, his eyes squeezed shut. Ana pulled off his shoe and watched him wiggle his toes.

Ana found a strong, straight stick, which she’d use to keep his leg steady. She carefully wrapped the boys’ shirts around his leg and the stick, winding down from his knee to his ankle. Rafi opened his eyes and cringed.

“I know it hurts,” Ana said. “But this will hold it still until you get to the hospital.”

When Ana was done, she looked up and saw Rafi’s mama watching from a few meters away. Behind her was a neighbor in a pickup truck. When Ana stepped away, Rafi’s mama ran over and held Rafi’s face in her hands.  

“Gracias, Ana,” she said.

Rafi’s mama and neighbor lifted Rafi into the truck, then drove down the dusty hillside toward the hospital.

The next day, Leta came to Ana’s home. “I heard what you did,” Leta said. “You kept your head in an emergency. That’s an important skill.”

Ana blushed. “I was afraid...”

Leta shook her head. “It’s OK for a cooperadora to be afraid, as long as she keeps her head. Now, listen. The volunteer doctors are coming here tomorrow with vaccines. We need some extra hands. Can you help?”

Ana didn’t hesitate. “I would love to.”

“Come early, then. There is a lot to learn.”

Ana smiled. “I’ll bring my first-aid book.”