Couple Relies on OnStar to Help During Highway Emergency

“All of a sudden I see this huge cloud of dust in front of us in the ditch.”

It was a warm summer day as Andre Ereaut and his wife Melissa were driving back home to Kingston, Ontario, after their vacation in Newfoundland. Andre and Melissa decided to take a scenic route through the United States, but unfortunately found themselves lost in the province of Quebec. They knew they had to go west, so they merged onto the 401.

As they were driving along the highway in their Chevrolet Silverado, they noticed a huge cloud of dust. As they approached the scene, it was evident that a pickup truck had rolled over numerous times into the highway median.

“The scene itself was horrific, you wouldn’t think that anyone would walk away.”

Fortunately, as an instructor for the Department of National Defense, Andre was trained in first aid. He immediately pressed the red emergency button, instructed Melissa to stay on the line, and jumped out of the truck to assess the situation.

As Andre approached the crash, he found a mother and three children in the truck, and the grandmother outside the vehicle with a laceration on her head. As Andre began first aid on the grandmother, Melissa was immediately connected to an OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisor*.

“When we pressed that red button it was immediate – there was someone on the line.”

Being lost somewhere in Quebec, Melissa was not able to determine the whereabouts of the accident. Luckily, OnStar was able to pinpoint their exact location and relay this information to First Responders.

“OnStar can relay exactly where you are, and that was the thing that was most important for me.”

The OnStar Advisor stayed on the line with Melissa to gather further information about the accident in order to communicate all the details to EMS. The Advisor then provided additional first aid instructions to Melissa.

“We are all impressed by the professionalism, the skillset they had, and all the information that they were relaying, not only to us, but to EMS as well.”

The OnStar Advisor stayed on the line with Melissa for about 30 minutes, and only disconnected once EMS arrived and were able to take control of the situation. Not only are OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisors trained professionals; Melissa described the Advisor as very personable.

“It was a human being, and not someone reading from a script.”

Fortunately, the family was okay, and no serious injuries were sustained. This was the first time Andre has had to use the red emergency button, and he hopes it is his last. Nonetheless, Andre trusts that OnStar will be there for support during any crisis.

Andre has been a member since 2007, routinely using features such as Turn-by-Turn Navigation*, remote start, and remote lock*. Andre recalls his very first experience with OnStar, during his free trial period in 2007:

He was on a different vacation in Newfoundland, and Andre and his dog stopped at a gas station to fill up. After paying for the gas, Andre returned to his truck to realize that his dog had somehow locked the doors, leaving Andre’s keys and cellphone inside.

Using a nearby payphone, Andre called the number displayed on the OnStar sticker on his truck’s window. OnStar was able to remotely unlock Andre’s vehicle, and he has been an OnStar member ever since. It was then that Andre decided:

“I will never be without OnStar again.”