Monday, August 15, 2011 On the morning of October 5, 2010 I was assigned with a BLS crew to provide ALS for a patient being transported to Cleveland from West Virginia. We were approximately 1 1/2 hours from Cleveland we were sideswiped by a car, sending us crashing into a caron the shoulder of the road, then over a small embankment, striking a light pole and then ending by crashing head on into a hillside. I was seated in the patient compartment of the Ambualnce in the airway seat directly behind the stretcher. At the time we were struck I had stood up to adjust the oxygen and was then thrown into the floor of the patient compartment. Our two spare oxygen bottles were mounted to the wall of the walkthrough from the patient compartment to the cab of the truck. I landed directly in this passageway and when we struck the car on the shoulder this was the exact moment my shoulder, chest, and back struck the oxygen bottles. My head struck the corner of the wall and my back was slammed to the floor against the tracks that were made for the sliding door to seperate the patient compartment and the cab. As we went over the embankment I was slid towards the cab and once we crashed into the hillside I was then catapulted into the cab landing on my neck and upper back. Our driver sustained a head injury that later lead to a series of TIA's, the EMT in the back with me sustained internal injuries. Our patient, thankfuly, was basicly unharmed other than minor bruising.
There were many lessons learned in this event. The first being, shoulder straps on the stretcher WORK!!! They absolutely should always be used. Secondly, if you ever have the opportunity to wear your seatbelt in the patient compartment, it will save your life. I was unable to because of having to be mobile to provide patient care. My EMT partner in the back, fortunately did and that is what kept him from sustaining any further injury. Lastly, mounting the oxygen bottles in the pass through area is an incredibly bad idea. Many statistics show that this is a common area for a provider to end up in the event of a crash. Also, this shows that no matter what type of call you are assigned, wether it be a call dispatched by 911, a BLS transport, or an ALS Interfacility call, we all take risks whenever we climb in the truck each and every day. This event was featured on the Secret List on October 6, 2010 and I do want to thank you all for bringing awareness to the event. It helps to show that so many of us are injured in the course of our duties each day.