Highway Patrol trooper saves man from burning vehicle

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper rescued a person stuck inside a burning vehicle early Tuesday morning near Wheatland.

At 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Trooper Samuel Szott was dispatched to handle a crash near mile marker 82 on Interstate 25.

“Down the embankment was a pickup, and the front end of the pickup was fully engulfed by the time he got there,” Lt. Kyle McKay said. “The truck (had) lost control on the icy roads and rolled down the hill.”

When Szott arrived, a civilian was also showing up to the scene to help out. Through the smoke, Szott could see a person slumped over the wheel inside the car.

“He was able to get the door open and remove the subject from the vehicle and pull him away from the burning vehicle,” McKay said. “(When he showed up), he didn’t know there was a fire, and he didn’t know there was anybody inside it, either.”

The driver was unresponsive when he was pulled out of the car, though by the time emergency medical technicians showed up, he was barely responsive. An ambulance took him to the Platte County Memorial Hospital in Wheatland to treat his injuries.

“Without this trooper’s actions and the Good Samaritan’s actions, this guy wouldn’t be able to have the opportunity to be around for the holidays,” McKay said. “By their quick thinking, they’ve saved this guy’s life.”

———

State to require meningitis shot

RIVERTON (WNE) — The Wyoming Department of Health plans to add a vaccine to the state's list of required shots for children in public school and daycare.

The list of required vaccines for public school children includes 12 different immunization substances, and the meningococcal ACWY vaccine is slated to become mandatory Aug. 1, 2020.

Meningococcal vaccination for children 11 and 16 years old is listed, until that date, as recommended by the DOH's advisory committee on immunization practices.

Once the shot becomes a requisite, no child over recommended dose ages would be allowed to attend school for more than 30 days without it, unless his or her guardian submitted a religious exemption form validated by the state, or a medical exemption due to contraindication which demonstrated past adverse reaction to the vaccine contents.

Part-time school or daycare attendees would also be required to get the vaccine at the required ages, as would home-schooled children participating in school-sanctioned activities.

"This is a standard vaccine," said Wyoming Department of Health spokeswoman Kim Deti. "It's not new or exotic. It's being recommended by national experts. Thousands of doctors across the country are recommending this. “We're simply making a change (of) moving it from our recommended list to our required list."

While the formal public comment period has passed, Deti said, the department is still receptive to public feedback, at [email protected].