Thursday, September 2, 2010  By Chris Mckenna - Times Herald Record

MONROE — A volunteer ambulance driver veered off Route 17M and rolled his rig on the roadside early Monday morning while taking an idle spin, according to Village of Monroe police.

Paul Casson, 30, told police he had taking the sleeping drug Ambien before his fateful ride, which ended in a grassy field at about 12:55 a.m. They are awaiting toxicology tests to confirm that account.

Casson, who was not responding to a call at the time, has been charged with driving while impaired by drugs and unauthorized use of a vehicle – both misdemeanors – and released to await further court action. He lives in the Bronx but has continued to drive for the Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps, according to Monroe Police Chief Dominic Giudice.

The accident happened across the street from the ambulance corps garage. Police say the vehicle appeared to be totaled.

Thursday, September 2, 2010  One of Wednesday's multiple motor vehicle accidents involved an ambulance and two other vehicles traveling on I-495.  A Medstar ambulance, transporting a patient, hit another vehicle causing a chain-reaction accident.  Emergency personal transported three individuals to area hospitals following the incident.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010  By Elizabeth Sweetman

A MAN was handed a suspended prison sentence after punching a paramedic three times in the face.

Tomasz Delgiado, aged 40, pleaded guilty to assault by beating and failing to attend an earlier hearing at Worcester Magistrates Court.

Matt Dodson, prosecuting, read a statement from the victim Liam Hurds, who said he and a colleague had been called to the defendant’s home in Worcester Road, Malvern, at 10.30pm on December 21, 2009, to reports a man had taken an overdose.

He said: “We found the defendant in the upstairs flat, swaying around and very unsteady on his feet.”

A number of observations were carried out and “tow-ards the end they checked his blood pressure; he started to become a little agitated and a little aggressive.”

Mr Dodson said: “The defendant had a strange look in his eyes. He was looking angry then leant forward. Mr Hurds saw the defendant’s clenched fist, the right fist, which came towards his face hitting him in the left cheek.

“He was shocked because he had not provoked the assault, but the defendant struck out a further two times. He gathered his senses and spoke to his colleague who restrained the defendant. They then called the police.”

Reading a statement by Delgiado, Mr Dodson said: “In relation to the allegation of assault, I can confirm that I committed this offence.

“Friends believed I was having a seizure.

“I had not taken an overdose. When I have a seizure I don’t know what’s happening. I recover but I’m extremely scared.”

Defending, Jason Patel said: “He had little recollection of what had gone on, but he regrets his actions.”

Delgiado was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for two years. He was made subject to a 12-month community order, with a supervision requirement and 120 hours of unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay the victim £80 compensation and court costs of £100, as well as a £15 victim surcharge.

For the Bail Act offence, Delgiado was fined £55.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010  By Chuck Bartels, Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A helicopter ambulance crashed early Tuesday amid the hills of central Arkansas, killing three crew members who were trying to reach a person injured in a traffic accident.

The Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter went down near the Scotland community in Van Buren County at around 4 a.m., according to the company and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Bell 206 helicopter, built in 1978, was registered to Air Evac EMS Inc., based in West Plains, Mo., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Air Evac spokeswoman Julie Heavrin said pilot Kenneth Robertson, flight nurse Kenneth Meyer, Jr., and flight paramedic Gayla Gregory all were killed in the crash.

Van Buren County Coroner Dorothy Branscum said the victims were killed on impact.

"I would say they might of seen it coming, but that was it. The helicopter was just melted and it was just in pieces," Branscum said.

The state medical examiner's office will perform the autopsies, she said.

The helicopter hit the ground just outside the yard of a home. Less than a mile away, people were camped out for the annual National Championship Chuckwagon Race scheduled for Friday.

Air Evac Lifeteam President and CEO Seth Myers said in a news release that the helicopter was equipped with night vision gear.
 

"This is a tragic day for us here at Air Evac Lifeteam," Myers said. "These were members of our family and we are devastated at this loss. Our focus at this time is on providing support for the family and friends of these crew members."

Investigators from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were traveling to the crash site, Lunsford said, who is based in the FAA's regional office in Fort Worth, Texas.

Lunsford said there apparently was no distress call and the cause of the crash wasn't immediately known.

Scotland is about 10 miles southwest of Clinton and some 80 miles north of Little Rock in central Arkansas.

Air Evac has experienced several fatal crashes in recent years.

In 2008, an Air Evac helicopter crashed in an Indiana cornfield killing three people. In 2007, another three-member crew was killed when an Air Evac helicopter crashed in Colbert County, Ala.

In 2006, an Air Evac helicopter crashed in Gentry in northwest Arkansas, killing a patient being transported and injuring the three-member crew.

Last month, an Air Evac helicopter made a forced landing near Tulsa, Okla., after the aircraft's hydraulics failed. No one was hurt.
 

Wednesday, September 1, 2010  NORMAN PARK, Aug 31, 2010 (The Moultrie Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

An ambulance responding to a call Thursday afternoon was damaged in a two-vehicle accident and will be out of service for a few weeks.

Georgia State Patrol Trooper First Class Chad Wynn said he was called to an accident at the Cool Springs Road and Doc Darbyshire Road intersection in Norman Park at 2:18 p.m. Thursday. A Colquitt County EMS ambulance, driven by William Houston, 30, of Norman Park, was driving on Cool Springs Road responding to a medical call.

As the ambulance was driving on Cool Springs Road, Wynn said a Windstream work van, driven by Timothy Morgan, 47, of Moultrie, was stopped at the Doc Darbyshire Road intersection. Morgan told Wynn he had stopped to make a left turn onto Doc Darbyshire Road while Houston stated he thought the van was stopping to let him pass.

As the ambulance went to pass the van, Wynn said Morgan began to make the left turn, and the two vehicles collided. The right front corner of the van hit the left rear corner of the ambulance, and the van spun around, and both vehicles went onto the shoulder of Doc Darbyshire Road.

The van overturned following the collision, and Morgan was taken to Colquitt Regional Medical Center for treatment of his injuries. A hospital spokesperson said he was treated and released Friday.

Morgan stated he did not see or hear the ambulance coming as he turned even though its lights and siren were activated, Wynn said. Neither driver was charged, but it was determined both were at fault in the collision. Morgan was cited for making an improper turn and Houston was cited for not showing due regard for other vehicles.

The van was totaled in the collision and was towed from the scene, but Wynn said the ambulance was able to be driven away. A second ambulance was needed to respond to the medical call.

Colquitt County EMS Director Amy Williams said the ambulance involved in the collision is out of service for repairs, which should take two to three weeks to complete. Even without the ambulance, EMS has enough ambulances available and in back-up to respond to all medical calls without any interruption of service to residents.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010  By Steve Whitworth - The Telegraph GODFREY - A Cottage Hills woman was injured Tuesday when her sport utility vehicle sideswiped an ambulance on Humbert Road and came to rest in the back yard of a residence, authorities said. The collision occurred at 1:55 p.m. Tuesday in the 4600 block of Humbert, said Capt. Marc McLemore, commander of the Madison County Sheriff's Department's Patrol Division. He said Dawn M. Cawvey, 36, the first block of Manor Drive in Cottage Hills, was driving a black 2002 Mercury Mountaineer north in the inside northbound lane of Humbert when, for reasons that remain under investigation, she swerved into the inside southbound lane of the road. Cawvey's SUV sideswiped a southbound Alton Memorial Ambulance, breaking axles on both vehicles, McLemore said. The Mountaineer veered off Humbert, traveled through a yard and came to rest in a back yard in the 4600 block, McLemore said. The ambulance came to rest in a grassy area in front of the Rock Gate subdivision, said Assistant Chief Eric Cranmer of the Godfrey Fire Protection District. Cranmer said there was no patient inside the ambulance at the time of the collision. He said the ambulance EMTs ran about a block to the spot where Cawvey's SUV had stopped in order to assist her. A second Alton Memorial Ambulance was called to the scene and took Cawvey to Alton Memorial Hospital with what McLemore described as "non-life-threatening" injuries. He said sheriff's deputies were attempting to interview her in the hospital Tuesday evening. None of the ambulance employees was injured, Cranmer said. One lane of Humbert in each direction was closed briefly while authorities removed debris and the vehicles from the scene, he said. McLemore said he expected citations to be issued in the incident, the latest in a series of traffic collisions on Humbert Road in the last two weeks. One crash last week resulted in the death two days later of a 17-year-old Alton High School student, and another involved a school bus that was trying to exit the school's parking lot. swhitworth@thetelegraph.com

Tuesday, August 31, 2010  By Bob Connors - NBC Connecticut

There's big trouble for a Waterbury man accused of stealing an ambulance in New Haven early Monday morning.

Michael Chowka III, 36, is facing charges after jumping in the ambulance and taking off from 1354 Chapel Street, police said.

Officers pursued the stolen rig but called it off the chase after a short distance.

Police in towns around New Haven were on the lookout for Chowka and the stolen ambulance.

Seymour officers positioned along route 67 spotted the ambulance traveling with out lights and sirens on around 5:30 a.m. They deployed stop sticks, which shredded the ambulance's tires.

Chowka was arrested without incident and returned to New Haven police.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010  Traffic was being rerouted Monday afternoon on a stretch of Highway 6 between Hearne and Calvert after a collision between a minivan and an ambulance that left one person dead. The accident occurred near the Mud Creek construction area about halfway between Hearne and Calvert. Two people who were riding in the minivan were taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan and one later died, the Department of Public Safety said. The victims’ names weren’t immediately released. The ambulance was not carrying a patient at the time of the accident.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010  By Jenny Michael - Bismarck Tribune

A Bismarck woman faces a felony charge for allegedly biting a paramedic with Metro Area Ambulance who was trying to help her.

Kelsie Redlegs, 18, was charged with Class C felony aggravated assault.

Bismarck Police Sgt. Mark Buschena said someone flagged down an officer on the 200 block of East Front Avenue at 11:34 p.m. Saturday and asked him to check on a woman who was stumbling around in a parking lot. The officer found the woman, later identified as Redlegs, and reported she was disoriented and unaware of her surroundings. Buschena said the woman smelled like alcohol and appeared to be intoxicated and a threat to her own safety. The officer called Metro Area Ambulance to take her to a hospital.


The officer reported the woman became combative with the paramedics, kicking and screaming at them and attempting to scratch them, Buschena said. He said the woman bit the arm of one of the emergency workers, causing bruising and breaking the skin slightly. She allegedly continued to try to bite the woman, a 33-year-old from Bismarck.


(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)

Sunday, August 29, 2010  From WLEX

A Bourbon County ambulance was in an accident Saturday afternoon, near W. Maxwell and S. Broadway streets in downtown Lexington. Police said the ambulance and a car collided, however no one was seriously injured.

The ambulance was carrying a stroke patient at the time of the accident. That patient was transferred to another ambulance and taken to the hospital.

The accident is still under investigation and there's no word on any charges being filed.

Saturday, August 28, 2010 

POTOMAC, Md. (WUSA) -- Four firefighters are said to be o.k. after the ambulance they were riding in crashed in Potomac this Friday morning.

Captain Oscar Garcia, spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, says the ambulance had just refueled after dropping off a patient at Shady Grove Hospital and was heading back to Station 3 when for some reason, the ambulance went off the road and down a hill into a ravine on Falls Road near Liberty Lane.

Garcia says the four firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to Suburban Hospital as a precaution.

Montgomery County Police are working to determine what caused the crash. A separate investigation will also be conducted by Montgomery County Fire and Rescue.

Right now Falls Road is shut down between Tuckerman Lane and Montrose Road. Garcia says the roadway will likely remain closed until at least 6:00 a.m. Montgomery County Police advise drivers to use Seven Locks Road to avoid the area.

Saturday, August 28, 2010  SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - While an ambulance was on its way to help the victims of a stabbing on Main St, another car broadsided it flipping it onto its side.

Lieutenant Slepchuk told 22News a driver hit the ambulance at the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and Wilbraham Road.

The EMT's inside had to punch out the windshield to get out.

The ambulance driver had to be taken to the hospital after the crash but she's expected to be ok.

The other driver was ticketed for not yielding to an ambulance.

Saturday, August 28, 2010  By Ayman Al-Saidalani - Saudi Gazette

MADINA – An Indonesian nurse was killed Friday and seven people were injured in a Madina village when an ambulance crashed head-on with a car carrying a family, health officials said.  
The ambulance, which was returning to Mahd Al-Dhahab after dropping off a patient at King Fahd Hospital in Madina, rolled over after the crash in Dhumairya village, said Abdullah Al-Taifi, Director of the Madina Health Department.
The nurse died at the scene and an Egyptian doctor, the driver, a patient’s relative who was accompanying paramedics on the way back to Mahd Al-Dhahab and the four family members in the car were injured, said Abdulrazzaq Hafiz, spokesman of the department. One family member is still in coma and in critical condition, he added. – Okaz/SG

Saturday, August 28, 2010  VALLEY, AL (WTVM) – Valley police tell News Leader 9 a man caused quite a scene at Walmart.

Police were called around 11:30 p.m. Thursday to assist paramedics as they tried to calm down a combative patient in front of Walmart off Highway 29 in Valley, AL.

Twenty-five-year-old Terrell Glasco of Lanett reportedly assaulted a paramedic as they were en route to the hospital.

The paramedic told police he was struck several times in the head and arms, then knocked to the floor of the ambulance. After the assault, Glasco ran from the ambulance into Walmart. 

Officers tried to confront Glasco as he was coming out of Walmart, but he ran back inside. That's when officers say the chased Glasco in the store -- running down several isles. 

When officers caught up with him, he allegedly refused to comply at which point an officer stunned him with a taser – not once, but twice.

Once officers were able to restrain Glasco, he was transported to the hospital for observation.

After Glasco was examined and released into the custody of police, he reportedly became combative again and started to fight officers who were trying to restrain him.

During this fight, a Valley officer says Glasco struck him in the face. 

Following the incident, Glasco was transported to the Chambers County Detention Facility. He was charged with two counts of assault, resisting arrest, public intoxication and disorderly conduct. 

We'll have a detail report of this incident beginning on News Leader 9 at Five.