By Abigail Ham
The Keene Sentinel
KEENE, N.H. — Hanne Bailey, 33, has no memory of the July 20, 2023 , crash that left her with life-threatening injuries, but former Keene Fire Lt. Raymond Phillips and his colleagues remember Bailey clearly.
Phillips was off duty that day, but he happened to be driving on Route 9 shortly after the crash. As the first emergency responder on the scene, Phillips was able to relay crucial information to first responders and work with bystanders to provide life-saving care in the meantime.
“It was one of those stars-align situations,” Firefighter Spencer Thompson said this past Tuesday at the fire station in Keene where Bailey had stopped by to meet the crew.
He and others who responded to the crash said it’s rare for them to hear how someone is doing after they treat them in an emergency. It’s even rarer to get to meet them and shake their hand.
“I truly wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them,” Bailey said, gesturing to Phillips, Thompson and others who posed for a photo with her beside one of the city’s ladder trucks.
The crash
Bailey’s car was struck by another vehicle while traveling home from an educators’ training at the Merrimack Valley School District. At the time, she was working as a teacher in Brattleboro. The collision pushed her car into oncoming traffic, where it was hit by a box truck.
At the same time, Phillips was heading home after a trip to Boston. When he saw traffic stopped on the road ahead, he wondered if there had been an accident. Then he got around the corner near Sullivan Road far enough to see the mangled remains of Bailey’s car, and two men struggling to open the driver’s door.
Phillips went straight into action. Another person on the scene had already dialed 911, but Phillips was able to tell dispatchers exactly what was going on and what would be needed at the scene. Phillips also put the men who had been trying to get the door open to work. One of them, Keene City Councilor Andrew Madison, kept Bailey’s head and spine stabilized while they waited for the fire and ambulance crews to arrive.
Fortunately, help wasn’t far away. A Keene Fire ambulance was nearby at Cheshire Medical Center and arrived quickly. John Warner, an EMT who was in that ambulance, said the scene was “a lot to take in. It was a pretty significant motor vehicle accident.”
A driver in a Mazda CX-5 struck Bailey’s car after failing to stop at the intersection of Route 9 and Sullivan Road , according to prosecutors in the case. The driver was sentenced on a misdemeanor count of vehicular assault last week as part of a plea agreement.
The intersection where the crash happened has been a hotspot for serious collisions — so much so that city officials briefly considered closing it, and recently approved a plan for a short-term solution they say will help make the intersection safer until a more permanent fix can be implemented.
Rescue
At the scene, Keene Fire staff had to get a seriously injured Bailey out of the mangled remains of her car. The team has advanced training in extrication, as well as in a breathing intervention they performed on Bailey.
Bailey said she feels her story is a testament to the value of that training — and to the need for adequate staffing in fire departments.
Keene Fire’s entire duty shift responded to Bailey’s crash, firefighters said. When a fire alarm went off in the city during that response, the shift commander had to decide how to respond to that alarm without leaving the crew responding to the crash shorthanded.
That’s a situation that happens often, with about 40 percent of the department’s calls last year overlapping. At least 300 times in 2024, the department had to call in off-duty staff to fill gaps, which can delay response time and contribute to burnout.
Because of the severity of Bailey’s injuries, Keene Fire staff used rapid sequence intubation — an advanced technique most local fire departments aren’t trained in, Keene firefighters said — to keep her breathing. Rapid sequence intubation involves using anesthesia to quickly intubate a patient in critical condition, enabling medical equipment to breathe for the patient.
Warner and Thompson, the EMTs, were part of the team that put their training to work that July day, likely saving Bailey’s life.
After being extricated from her car and treated on scene, she was taken to Concord Hospital by helicopter, where she spent several weeks getting treatment before returning to her parents’ home in New York to continue her recovery.
Reunion
Today, Bailey said she still isn’t fully recovered, but has enjoyed slowly being able to return to some of her favorite activities, like skiing.
Sitting with Keene Fire staff in a break room at the station, she said she has serious memory loss surrounding the crash, and didn’t hear the full story until long after it happened.
The department welcomed Bailey with a Keene Fire T-shirt and a warm sentiment: “You’re part of our family now,” Phillips said.
Bailey said managing the effects of a brain injury has been one of the most challenging parts of her recovery.
Losing the use of her dominant hand for several months was another challenge — one that Bailey said encouraged her not to take anything for granted.
She’s hoping to return to teaching soon, but for now is focused on being present day by day and getting back to 100 percent.
Her reunion with the men she credits with saving her life was emotional. “I know with each passing month, the gratitude will just sink deeper in me,” she said.
She embraced Phillips, Thompson and Warner after posing for a photo. “You did all the hard work,” Phillips said, and Warner added, “We’re just happy you’re doing well.”
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