By Suzy Alstrin
It was early morning on Friday, May 13, 2025. After Emilee (Ross) McArthur (RU-Dec. 2021) tended to her one-year-old daughter, she left home a bit late for her job as a registered nurse in Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center’s emergency room. As she drove in on Interstate 75, a semi-truck barreled across the median and collided head-on with multiple vehicles directly in front of her. McArthur quickly swerved off the road and safely stopped.
Instinctively, and despite the danger, the Reinhardt alumna ran into the chaotic scene, which included a pickup truck ablaze. As someone accustomed to dealing with unexpected emergencies, McArthur called 9-1-1 and calmly assisted survivors. “I was worried about making sure people were okay and I didn’t think about myself at that point,” she explained. “I was doing what I was trained to do.”
Despite not having medical supplies, McArthur became resourceful, using a load of floor mats transported by a truck on the scene to lay down a male victim and assess his injuries. Determining his injuries were non-life-threatening, she then tended to a panicked, barefoot and injured passenger of the pickup truck, even speaking to the woman’s mother on the phone.
When paramedics arrived, McArthur guided other motorists, including some asphalt pavers and another nurse, to look for and help stabilize other accident victims. Tragically, several motorists did not survive.
“I feel like everybody is put in a situation or a place for a reason, and the reason I was running late that day is because either it would have been me in the car wreck, or it was God saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to need somebody on scene, so I’m going to make you late.’ God made me a nurse, and then God put me in that situation for a reason to use the skills that I have accumulated over several years of being a nurse.”
As a primary witness, and first medical responder on scene, McArthur assisted state officials with their investigation. Over five hours after the ordeal unfolded, she arrived at her job to complete her 12-hour shift. There, she cared for victims of another serious vehicle accident and several cardiac arrest patients. “If I hadn’t have gone in, my team would have been short staffed, and my being there lightened their load a little bit. As a nurse, I signed up to take care of people, and so I can’t let anything hold me back.”
Heather Clement, Director of Emergency Services at Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center, praised McArthur’s actions, “Emilee exemplifies what it means to be a nurse. Her courage, quick thinking, and unwavering commitment to helping others—even in the face of tragedy—are nothing short of extraordinary. We are incredibly proud to have her on our team.”
