Lifenet Ambulance Accident

[Guest guest]

Any one know how the crew is doing after yesterdays accident in Texarkana?

[Guest guest]

A paramedic from LifeNet's Ashdown station owes her life to a fellow EMT, a

trooper says, after an ambulance carrying a pregnant woman collided with the

rear of a tractor-trailer rig on U.S. 71 north of Texarkana, and the

wreckage burst into flames.

The ambulance was traveling south on the Texas side of the four-lane,

divided highway, which runs along the Arkansas-Texas state line, so the

crash about a mile north of Texarkana was investigated by Texas police.

Police said the southbound flatbed rig was stopped at a crossover, waiting

to turn around into the northbound lanes when the ambulance collided with

the rear of the flatbed trailer.

Texas Trooper W. Munger said the pregnant woman and the ambulance

crew survived without life-threatening injuries but it took a heroic rescue

by 26-year-old EMT Reba Suiter to save 25-year-old paramedic Pate.

The trooper said Suiter spotted Pate lying underneath the tractor-trailer

rig just seconds after the collision, as Suiter smelled the odor of diesel

fuel. She immediately went to get Pate to safety. The trooper said that, as

soon as Suiter had pulled Pate to safety, the ambulance bursts into flame.

The truck driver, 35-year-old Stuart Haywood of ville, Florida, was

apparently unhurt and fought the blaze with a fire extinguisher until

firefighters arrived.

Manwhile, passersby who had stopped to help had pulled Hendrix from the

wreckage. She reported only some bruises and soreness after the accident and

was taken to the Texarkana hospital that was her original destination. A

family member said Hendrix was resting in the labor and delivery wing later

today, awaiting the onset of labor after doctors had assured themselves that

her unborn baby had suffered no harm.

From: texasems-l [mailto:texasems-l ] On

Behalf Of ems0115

Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 2:43 PM

To: texasems-l

Subject: Lifenet Ambulance Accident

Any one know how the crew is doing after yesterdays accident in Texarkana?