Nikki Horne
January 2018
Nikki
Horne
,
RN
Operating Room
McLeod Regional Medical Center
Florence
,
SC
United States

 

 

 

Nikki was traveling with her family when they came upon the accident. Nikki witnessed a man crawling out from a vehicle that appeared to have rolled over multiple times. Instead of driving by and assuming that help was already on the way, she insisted that her husband stop the car for her to help. When she reached the gentleman she could see his arm was severely injured. With more than 16 years of nursing experience including serving on a trauma team, Nikki had the skills to handle such a situation.
The man was losing a significant amount of blood. Nikki yelled out to her husband that she needed something to make a tourniquet and he brought her his belt. She used a bystander's towel to wrap around his arm and utilized the belt as a tourniquet. The man kept saying that he was getting dizzy, but Nikki continued talking to him to keep him alert until EMS arrived on the scene.
"Some people work just to get a paycheck, but I know nursing is more than that to Nikki," said the man. "She was my guardian angel that day. If she had not stopped I wouldn't be here today to thank her. She has even inspired me, now if I drive by an accident myself I stop to see what I can do to help."