Township (Ocean County, NJ) Ambulance Crash

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A Township (Ocean County, NJ) Volunteer First Aid Squad (EMS

Station 22) ambulance (with emergency lights on) was transporting an 87-year old

female trauma patient to a local hospital when it was struck head-on at

around 2348 hours on Saturday by a 27 year-old motorcyclist driving a Harley

son. Fortunately, the EMS driver was wearing his seat belt, and

driving a rig equipped with a front air bag that deployed, and managed to avoid

injuries to his on-board patient and crew.

The cyclist crossed the double yellow center line on a sloping downhill

curved section of a roadway in , veering into the path of the

on-coming ambulance. The 22 year-old driver of the Squad's ambulance Shane

O'Brien

(who is also a Volunteer Firefighter with the Mills Volunteer Fire

Company, Station 54) is credited with preventing further injuries by his

calm decision-making keeping the ambulance under control and upright,

despite the fact that the force of the impact sheared off the drivers side

front

wheel and suspension assembly. The driver of the ambulance and a Squad

Cadet riding in the rear of the ambulance were wearing seat-belts and were

uninjured. An EMT providing care to the patient in the back of the ambulance

suffered a few bumps and bruises but was otherwise unhurt. Immediately

after the impact, even though the ambulance's drivers side door jammed shut,

the crew exited their vehicle and began providing care to the injured

motorcyclist.

The original woman patient in the ambulance did not suffer any further

injury from the crash, and was transferred to another ambulance to continue

her transport to a local hospital. The front airbag did deploy on the 2007

model year ambulance. The operator of the motorcycle suffered severe

injuries, and due to weather conditions preventing two med-evac helicopters

from

flying, was transported via ground to the trauma center at Jersey Shore

University Medical Center by another First Aid Squad ambulance, with

paramedics from the MON-OC Hospital Corporation on board. The motorcycle

driver was pronounced dead after arrival at the Medical Center.

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant

LNMolino@...

(Cell Phone)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

" Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds

discuss people " Eleanor Roosevelt - US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962)