Picture this. It’s a chilly March night. After an evening of fun at a pal’s house, you’re driving back home, excited to curl up into bed and get ready for the day ahead. Yet as you’re driving over a bridge, a typically uneventful part of your homeward commute, you notice something has gone terribly wrong — your car has wound up over the ledge, sinking into the water below.



For several unlucky folks, this horrifying scenario turned into a reality when Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship crashed into one of the structure’s support beams.

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Although six people died in the ordeal, an incident like this doesn’t have to be fatal — just ask ER doctor, Darria Long Gillespie.



“If your car falls into water, you have approximately one minute to get out safely,” she began her now-viral TikTok video posted shortly after the bridge collapse. So how can you make the most of that one minute before sinking to the river floor? Having a plan.


“When I take care of patients who survived vehicle submersions, it is because they knew what to do and did it immediately before they even had time for panic to set in,” she explained before likening a sinking car to a “leaky boat” that tips forward as it dives deeper into the water.


After realizing that you have to get the hell out of Dodge — quite literally, depending on your car — the first steps in making a safe escape are to remove your seatbelt and identify which window you plan on exiting from, according to Dr. Darria. Considering that the “second-row window stays above water longer” — and that window breakers aren’t always reliable — choosing to exit from the back seat isn’t a bad idea, especially if there are children in tow. Finally after maneuvering your way out of various restraints, climb out of the designated escape window, with the eldest children leaving first.


Considering this is a lot to remember — especially in a moment of panic — Dr. Darria suggested using the acronym SWOC, which stands for seatbelts, windows, out of restraints and children.


While we can only hope that we’ll never have to use these steps, they’re always good to have for a rainy day … or a chilly March evening.