Friday, May 24, 2013  The Secret List www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com 

We regret to advise you that a Wyoming County (PA) EMT was in a crash while responding last night and died in the Line of Duty--early today. Tunkhannock EMT and Rescue Tech Thomas Gruen, 46, a long time member of Tunkhannock Ambulance, was killed on Rt 92 last evening while turning out during bad weather. The vehicle's driver, EMT Jeffrey Plata, lost control while traveling north on Route 92 - and the pickup truck spun into the southbound lanes and struck several trees on the western side of the road at 2130 hours. The driver experienced NLT injuries. RIP.

Friday, May 24, 2013  By Edward Lewis

TUNKHANNOCK TWP. — An emergency medicaltechnician with Tunkhannock Community Ambulance Association died from injuries he suffered in a crash on state Route 29 Wednesday night.


Township police identified the man as 46-year-old Thomas M. Gruen of Tunkhannock.


Gruen was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by Tunkhannock Ambulance EMT Jeffrey Plata, 29, of Tunkhannock. They were both responding to a 911 emergency call during a violent thunderstorm.


Police said Plata lost control on a rain covered roadway at about 9:30 p.m. The pickup spun and crossed both lanes of travel striking several trees, police said.


Gruen suffered multiple traumatic injuries and was transported to Geisinger-Community Medical Center in Scranton, where he died at 1:17 a.m. Thursday, Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Roland said in a news release.


An autopsy is scheduled today. 

Friday, May 24, 2013  A Hollis man faces assault and endangerment charges after Nassau County Police said he attacked an off-duty paramedic that tried to help him.

An off-duty ambulance medical technician saw Randolfo Catu, 43, of Hollis, stumbling into the street on Cold Spring Road at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, police reported. 

The unidentified Nassau AMT, 56, called 911 to ask for help after he said he saw Catu almost fall several times into the roadway, cops said. 

Angered, Catu then allegedly shoved the AMT into the street and punched him several times, cops reported. 

A 39-year-old witness saw the struggle and held Catu down until police arrived, detectives reported. 

The AMT was treated at a nearby hospital for his injuries, including a wound on his hand that needed stitches, cops said. 

Catu was also hospitalized for evaluation, police said. 
Catu is charged with second-degree assault and second-degree reckless endangerment. He will be arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead. 

Friday, May 24, 2013  VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A Virginia Beach ambulance was involved in a crash Thursday afternoon.

The crash occurred in the 4000 block of Elbow Road at the intersection of Walpole Street around 2 p.m., Grazia Moyers with the Virginia Beach Police Department said. The city ambulance landed on its side in a ditch and was the only vehicle involved.

No patients were on board and no one was hurt, but the crew was responded to a call.

Stay with WAVY.com for more on this developing story.  

Friday, May 24, 2013  Virginia Beach, Va. – Officers have responded to a single vehicle accident involving an ambulance in the 4000 block of Elbow Road, at the intersection of Walpole Street.

Police say the ambulance has tipped over onto its side.

No patients were on board at the time of the crash, and police say no injuries have been reported.

Stay with NewsChannel 3 as new information is released. 

Thursday, May 23, 2013  Alex Eliseev 
JOHANNESBURG - Three people, including an eight-year-old boy, have been injured in an early morning accident in eastern Johannesburg.

The crash, involving an ambulance and a car, happened shortly before eight o'clock in Benoni.

ER24's Vanessa Jackson said the emergency vehicle was on its way to a scene when it collided with the car in which the mother was driving her son to school.

The car rolled and landed on its roof and by the time paramedics arrived the boy, dressed in his school uniform, was lying next to the vehicle.
“We don’t know if he was ejected or if someone pulled him out but he was in a critical condition and the advanced life care team took over his care.”

The boy, his mother and one of the ambulance crew were rushed to hospital.  

Wednesday, May 22, 2013  TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. — The four people injured in Saturday’s head-on collision between an ambulance and pickup truck on state Route 32 remained hospitalized on Tuesday, the Ulster County undersherriff said.

Frank Faluotico also said the cause of the crash remained under investigation and that no tickets had been issued.

The accident, at 6:55 a.m. on Route 32 near Platt Lane, involved a Mobile Life Support Services ambulance driven by paramedic William Spadafora, 43, of 191 Russell Road, Hurley, and a 2002 Dodge pickup driven by Marco Ochoa, 18, of 16 Oak St., Kingston, the Sheriff’s Office said.

A passenger in the ambulance and the two people in the pickup also were hurt.

There were no patients in the ambulance at the time, and the vehicle was not on an emergency call.

Spadafora was flown by helicopter to Albany Medical Center with multiple serious injuries. A passenger in the ambulance, Gigi Williams, also of 191 Russell Road, Hurley, and also a Mobile Life employee, was taken to Kingston Hospital with a head injury.

Ochoa suffered a minor leg injury and was taken to Kingston Hospital, and a passenger in the pickup, Reyes Lucero, 21, also suffered minor injuries.

Andrew LaMarca, director of development for Mobile Life, said Spadafora and Williams are boyfriend and girlfriend and were on duty at the time of the crash, moving the ambulance from one Mobile Life station to another.

The crash caused extensive front-end damage to both vehicles. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013  By David Henke

An ambulance responding to a rollover crash along County Road 42 in Rosemount on Tuesday morning was in turn hit by another vehicle, according to Rosemount police.

Two people sustained minor injuries during the consecutive accidents, which occurred west of Hwy. 52, police said.

Rosemount police and Health East paramedics responded to the first crash at approximately 9:22 a.m. on Tuesday. The driver, 21-year-oold Dylan Skov, had been westbound on County Road 42 when his Jeep Cherokee left the roadway and rolled over, police said. Skov, who was wearing his seatbelt, suffered only minor injuries.

The Health East ambulance had just arrived on scene at 9:32 a.m. when it was struck by a Ford Explorer, which also rolled over. Trevor Johnson, a 31-year-old Rosemount resident, was driving the Explorer and sustained minor injuries. He was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the collision. 

Rosemount police and fire crews were assisted by the Minnesota State Patrol, Apple Valley Police Department and Health East ambulance service.

The accident is still under investigation. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013  A late night accident involving an ambulance ended up sending three people in the hospital.
 
Just after 11:00 Monday night a Jan-Care ambulance ran off the side of Route 50 in Doddridge County and crashed over a guardrail and into a bank. 
 
The driver said he fell asleep at the wheel. One person was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital, and two others in the ambulance were taken to another hospital.
 
State Police have not released the names of those involved in this crash.

 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013  By Lonnie Wong

Two Sacramento fire fighters were attacked in separate incidents this weekend while responding to medical calls.

The police department said 29-year-old Daniel Sevall came at a paramedic after they responded to a call for help.

The firefighter grabbed him until police came, but he suffered a slight muscle strain.  Sevall was arrested for assault.

Later that same day paramedics had just moved 23-year-old Jonathan Sawyer from a their gurney to a hospital bed at Sutter General Hospital when Sawyer took a swing at one of the firefighters grazing him on the chin.  Sawyer was also arrested for assault.

City fire officials say both men were unstable.  Sevall was known to firefighters who had dealt with him before.  The Sacramento Fire Department responds to 5,700 medical calls a year, 65 percent of their total call volume.

Battalion Chief Niko King says it’s not unusual for them to deal with on-going medical problems that include psychological issues that can be unpredictable.

“Unpredictable where a person might not even appear to be angry but is going to lash out,” said King.

There’s an attempt at the State Capitol to create a system where people with mental health issues can be identified and treated.  But until it’s in place, police and fire personnel will have to respond to many people who have  mental health issues and put themselves in harm’s way.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013  By Cecelio Padilla

Police say that a man assaulted a paramedic after being transported to a hospital early Saturday evening.

The man, 23-year-old Jonathan Sawyer, was taken to Sutter General Hospital around 6:20 p.m.

Inside, police say that Sawyer then attacked a paramedic, injuring the man’s face. Sawyer was then held until police showed up.

Sawyer was soon arrested and charged with assault. The paramedic is expected to be OK.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013  A 23-year-old cyclist is being treated in hospital for injuries sustained in a crash with an ambulance on Greetwell Road on Sunday afternoon.

The incident happened at around 5.40pm on May 19 on Greetwell Road near the junction with St Anne’s Road, before the hospital.

The ambulance was in collision with the man from Lincoln, who was on a bike.

Emergency services attended and he was taken to Lincoln County Hospital for treatment. An update on his condition is expected later in the day.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact Lincolnshire Police on the 101 number, quoting incident 367 of May 19. 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013  West Virginia State Police are investigating an ambulance crash that happened in Doddridge County late Monday night.  A Jan-Care ambulance crashed on Route 50 near Arnold's Creek just after 11 p.m.

The driver said he was traveling toward Parkersburg when the vehicle ran off the roadway and ended up in the guard rail and a ravine, according to West Virginia State Police. The driver told police that he had fallen asleep while driving.

One person was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital by Air Evac Lifeteam.

There was one patient in the ambulance, according to 911 officials. The patient and another person in the ambulance were taken to United Hospital Center for treatment.

State police have not released the names of the people involved. Their injuries didn't appear to be life threatening. 

Sunday, May 19, 2013  TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. — A paramedic from Hurley was seriously injured Saturday morning when the ambulance he was driving collided head-on with a pickup on state Route 32 near the Ulster-Rosendale town line, according to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office.

A passenger in the ambulance and the two people in the pickup also were hurt, deputies said. They said there were no patients in the ambulance at the time and that the vehicle was not an emergency call.

The accident, at 6:55 a.m. on Route 32 near Platt Lane, involved a Mobile Life Support Services ambulance driven by paramedic William Spadafora, 43, of 191 Russell Road, Hurley, and a 2002 Dodge pickup driven by Marco Ochoa, 18, of 16 Oak St., Kingston, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The crash caused extensive front-end damage to both vehicles.

Spadafora was flown by helicopter to Albany Medical Center with multiple serious injuries, deputies said, and a passenger in the ambulance, Gigi Williams, also of 191 Russell Road, Hurley, was taken to Kingston Hospital with a head injury. Their conditions were not available.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Wallace Fulford said Williams, too, is a Mobile Life employee.

Deputies said Ochoa suffered a minor leg injury and was taken to Kingston Hospital and that a passenger in the pickup, Reyes Lucero, 21, also suffered minor injuries.


Andrew LaMarca, director of development for Mobile Life, said Spadafora and Williams are boyfriend and girlfriend and were on duty at the time of the crash, moving the ambulance from one Mobile Life station to another.
The Sheriff’s Office said the cause of the accident remained under investigation. 

Sunday, May 19, 2013  By Leonard Sparks

ULSTER — A Mobile Life Support Services paramedic is in critical condition and an emergency medical technician was injured after their ambulance collided head-on with a pickup truck Saturday on Route 32, the Ulster County Sheriff's Office said.

William Spadafora, 43, of Hurley, had to be extricated from the ambulance he was driving after it collided with a 2002 Dodge pickup at about 6:55 a.m. near Platt Lane in the Town of Ulster, officials said.

He was then flown to Albany Medical Center with multiple serious injuries, police said.

Gigi Williams, an EMT riding with Spadafora, was taken to Kingston Hospital with a head injury.

Williams, also of Hurley, was then moved to Albany Medical Center in stable condition, said Andrew LaMarca, director of development for Mobile Life.

The driver of the pickup, Marco Ochoa, 18, of Kingston, also had to be extricated, police said.

He and a passenger, Reyes Lucero, 21, were both taken to Kingston Hospital with minor injuries, according to police.

"To the best of our knowledge, Gigi is stable," LaMarca said. "Bill has undergone surgery, and I guess there will be a number of procedures."

The ambulance was traveling north on Route 32 when it collided with the pickup truck heading south, Bloomington fire Chief Kevin Keller said.

"It was significant damage to both vehicles, and the ambulance had a slight engine fire," Keller said.

In addition to Bloomington fire personnel, both the Kingston and Rosendale fire departments responded with extrication equipment, Keller said.

lsparks@th-record.com