A 56-year-old woman en route to a "routine medical appointment" was seriously injured when the ambulance in which she was riding hit a tree on University Avenue in Palo Alto and flipped onto its side.
She was still in critical condition at Stanford Hospital this morning (Tuesday), Det. Brian Philip reported.
The woman, a Concord resident, was being transported by private ambulance to a medical appointment, according to Palo Alto police and fire officials.
The driver and two attendants in the ambulance received relatively minor injuries in the 11 a.m. crash, police reported.
The westbound ambulance simply veered off University and into a tree, flipping onto its left side, witnesses told police. The crash occurred between Chaucer and Marlowe streets.
Police Det. Brian Philip said the Bay Medic ambulance was traveling about 35 miles per hour on University heading west on a shallow curve when it simply ran into the tree, with no sign of brakes being applied, witnesses reported.
Fire Capt. Mark Moore of Engine 1 said all four were conscious and outside the ambulance when fire crews arrived at the scene.
University Avenue was closed at Chaucer Street after the crash while police investigated. The ambulance — a Ford E350 van — was laying in a shallow puddle on its passenger side, its mangled passenger’s side door pointing at the sky.
"Two EMTs were working on the patient when we arrived," Moore said "One other EMT was lying on the sidewalk."
Moore said all four were taken to Stanford Hospital with injuries. The medical responder with the most serious injuries and the patient were each transported by a separate ambulance. A third ambulance was summoned for the other two responders, whose injuries appeared less critical, Moore said.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash to determine if there was a mechanical problem or whether the driver was distracted and didn’t notice the curve.
It also wasn’t immediately clear whether the wet and leafy ground conditions on this University Avenue block contributed to the ambulance’s crash. The tree may have been a sycamore, known for the volume of fall leaves it produces.
"For whatever reason, the ambulance just hit the tree and flipped over," Moore said.
— Gennady Sheyner and Palo Alto Online staff
Palo Alto Online Story and Photos: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=10497
