Monday, September 20, 1999

Emergency crews from neighboring areas help

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Too many injuries for city to handle

The Cincinnati Enquirer

Beverly Alexander is treated for injuries. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        Ten ambulances usually are enough to handle the emergencies that arise daily in Cincinnati.

        But when a motorist plowed through crowded Main Street nearly an hour before Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati ended Sunday, city rescue crews quickly turned to neighboring communities to help treat the nearly two dozen injured.

        At least 10 ambulances from Newport, Covington, Southgate, Dayton, Ky., and the University of Cincinnati responded to assess injuries on the scene and transport people to area hospitals, said Cincinnati Fire Division Assistant Chief Gary Auffart. The city rarely has to use its mutual-aid agreement, he added.

        Some of the injured refused to go to the hospital, so paramedics treated their cuts and scrapes at the scene with antiseptic and bandages.

        University Hospital also sought help. It implemented its mass disaster procedure, in which the hospital calls additional doctors and alerts other area hospitals to the emergency.

        Cincinnati police called in officers from all districts. They quickly sealed off the scene, barring onlookers in at least a one-block radius of where the motorist struck festival-goers and where his ride ended with a head-on collision.

        Lt. Ken Elliott, a Newport paramedic for 20 years, said Sunday was the first time he remembers responding to an emergency in Cincinnati.

        Paramedic Philip Dietz said the scene looked like a minor traffic accident when he first arrived.

        “I saw a car slammed into a taxi and thought, "How bad can this be? Why are we here?,'” he said. “Then police sent us to the next block, and they were beginning to triage people. They had minor injuries on one side and more serious injuries on the other side.”

        Paramedic John Bloomfield said he transported a 13-year-old boy with a minor injury.

        “He was more upset about the Bengals losing,” he said.

       

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