California Highway Maintenance Leadworker

Department of Transportation

12/20/2015

Special Service Award (Silver)

On December 20, 2015, at 10:00 a.m., Caltrans District 2 Dispatch received a call from the California Highway Patrol requesting response to a vehicle that had slid off an embankment on US 395, just past Bowman Road, and was upside down in the Pit River. As Caltrans Maintenance Leadworker Dean Rouse arrived upon the accident site, he noticed several people assisting in the rescue of the person driving the vehicle. Mr. Rouse noticed a man at the accident site holding a female passenger’s hand while trying to keep her head out of the fast rising water. Risking his own life, Mr. Rouse jumped into the swift-moving, freezing river and tried to get the passenger door open to free the woman inside; however large boulders were blocking the door. A short time later, a Modoc County Sheriff Deputy arrived on scene and ran down to help Mr. Rouse in the river. The pair worked together to get the car door open. After the Sherriff’s Deputy pulled the woman out, Mr. Rouse began carrying her up the steep embankment until met by paramedics. The woman suffered a heart attack while in the water, and the driver ingested a great deal of water into his lungs and was unconscious for a time. Both were sent to a nearby hospital and then airlifted to a Reno hospital, where they both recovered. Although soaking wet, Mr. Rouse stayed on scene to provide traffic control while the vehicle was pulled from the water. He went above and beyond his normal duties by staying at the scene even after the victims were rescued. Mr. Rouse returned to work for an additional three hours saying, “I was just doing my job.”