Texas EMS Magazine, Volume 19, Number 1, January/February 1998 Page: 10
60 p. : col. ill.View a full description of this periodical.
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On the Scene
By David Wampler, EMT-P
(
Uked
ison van call gives new
meaning to extrication-3C EMS Fact: In
1995, 29.5 percent of
high school seniors
acknowledged having
five or more drinks in
a row during the
previous two weeks.
-National Highway
Traffic Safety Admin-
istrationA recent accident on the interstate
approximately seven miles out-
side Kerrville put our fire department
personnel to a major rescue test. In
my seven-year EMS career, I could
never have even conceived the poten-
tial complications of a mass casualty
incident inside a heavy-duty, rein-
forced steel cage.
At about 3:30 a.m., a 9-1-1 call
came in for a major accident involving
a van vs. an 18-wheel truck. As bad as
this call sounds, it only gets worse.
Our first arriving ambulance reported
possibly ten victims inside a prisoner
transport van, and requested more
help-a lot more help!
I was in the second ambulance
unit on the scene, arriving at the same
time as the first fire unit and approxi-
mately five minutes before the rescue
truck. My initial scene survey re-
vealed a suburban pulling a travel
trailer that had jack-knifed at the
bottom of a steep hill with a blind
curve, and had laid over on its side.
The first bystander on scene had
pulled his 18-wheeler half into the
right lane and half onto the shoulder.The second vehicle on the scene was a
Texas Department of Corrections van
transporting seven prisoners to be
released the next day. One guard,
who had been riding in the front
passenger seat, had gotten out to help
the victims of the original accident
when a second 18-wheeler coming
from the same blind curve lost con-
trol, jack-knifed and rear-ended the
prisoner van with enough force to
push the van under the first tractor
trailer.
Neither the guard who had gotten
out or the second truck driver were
injured. The driver of the van was
pinned between the dash and the back
of the bench seat, but was alert and
complaining only of difficulty breath-
ing due to the pressure of the dash on
his chest; he was otherwise uninjured.
In the second forward-facing seat
were two prisoners; the one on the left
was alert and uninjured. Next to him
on the same seat, right side, was an
unconscious, breathing prisoner with
a piece of his skull stuck to the cage
directly behind him. This forward-
facing seat was enclosed on all sides10 Texas EMS Magazine January/February 1998
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Texas. Department of State Health Services. Texas EMS Magazine, Volume 19, Number 1, January/February 1998, periodical, January 1998; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1507967/m1/10/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.