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Father Crashes Into Ambulance Carrying Daughter
Father, rushing home, collides with ambulance carrying daughter.
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Five people were sent to the hospital after a vehicle collided with an ambulance late Friday night in Luzerne County. Hunlock Creek ambulance officials said they were transporting a young child to the hospital after a seizure when her father, while rushing home, collided with the ambulance carrying her.
The amublance received heavy damage and it was not the first time it has happened to the ambulance company near Shickshinny. "Well it was kind of like living bad memories all over again cause we did have an accident a couple years back where somebody else had hit us, but our main concern was for our people as well as our patient. We had a small child in there and thankfully everything went well. We had people injured, but injuries were minor," said Chief Jerry Price, with Hunlock Creek Volunteer Ambulance.
Emergency officials said they were taking a four-year-old girl to the hopsital after she suffered a seizure. Her father was rushing home on Sorbertown Hill Road in Hunlock Township when he collided nearly head-on with the ambulance around 11 p.m. Friday. EMS crews said the father admitted to police he was driving too fast. The little girl was not hurt in the crash, but she, the [ambulance operator], an EMT, her father and his passenger were all taken to the hospital. "I wasn't actually in the ambulance. I came on scene later, but you're right there ready to take care of your own, the other people that hit us, and you don't think about it, you just do it. It's what we do," said Price.
"It's tough. We all volunteer our time to go out and help the public and when you hear one of your own get hurt, it's a wake up call, you know. To everybody, whether you're a volunteer or average Joe Citizen, everybody needs to take their time and be cautious out there," said James Brennan, Junior, presient of the Hunlock Creek Ambulance Association. Ambulance company officials said the emergency vehicles are designed to take the brunt of an impact and they said they are lucky that one of their smaller guys was behind the wheel, or injuries could have been a lot worse.
"There's severe damage to the truck, there's no doubt about it, but the patient was never in jeopardy, the stretcher and everything stayed right where it should," said Price. "The way the impact hit, it compacted everything into the dash area and the driver's area. Somebody my size, the chance of being crushed in the legs or stuck, it could have been very much likely. Where this person was actually very small, so he was very lucky," added Brennan. Hunlock Creek does have a second ambulance so it will still be able to answer emergency calls.
The ambulance company does have insurance and hopes to replace the damaged vehicle. EMS officials said the [ambulance operator] and EMT have been released from the hospital. The little girl was taken to Geisinger Medical Center near Danville. There is no word on her condition, or the conditions of her father and his female passenger.
