Thursday, January 27, 2000
Car injures 5 firefighters
Ambulance with patient hit hard
BY PERRY BROTHERS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The only thing Angela Fields knew was that her firefighter fiance had been in an accident. The only thing she felt, as she raced to Good Samaritan Hospital on Wednesday morning, was panic.
“I couldn't get here fast enough,” she said, as a doctor examined Cincinnati Firefighter Rodney Triggs in the Good Samaritan emergency room.
Firefighter Triggs was one of five firefighters sent to the hospital after a roadside accident Wednesday in the 1900 block of Langdon Farm Road in Bond Hill. Four of the firefighters were treated and released, but one — James Benken, 52, who suffered a broken leg — remained in serious condition late Wednesday at University Hospital.
About 8:30 a.m., as the five-member team of Engine 8 treated a heart attack victim in the back of a parked ambulance, a 1989 Mazda 929 slammed into the rear of the rescue unit.
The crash jolted the ambulance 15feet forward and sent the firefighters careening into the rescue unit's equipment and walls.
“We were all tossed around back there,” Firefighter Triggs said, as he shifted on a hospital gurney, seeking a position that would ease his back pains. “I hit the back window. We were just getting ready to open that (back) door.”
In the frantic moments after the crash, the firefighters with lesser injuries radioed for help, rushed to check on the Mazda's driver — Danyale Marshall, 20, of Evanston — and soothe the man who was still suffering a heart attack in the ambulance.
A stiff neck
“Trying to keep him calm after that was difficult,” said Firefighter Miles Davis, 39, as he rubbed his stiff neck in Good Samaritan's waiting room. The patient, Robert Denson, 82, of Bond Hill, was taken to Bethesda North Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Ms. Marshall told the fire fighters that the sun was in her eyes and she didn't see the ambulance.
“She didn't even have time to hit her brakes,” said Firefighter Roy Lawrence, 37, who also suffered stiffness in his neck from the jostle.
Ms. Marshall's head shattered the Mazda's windshield and she was treated for cuts at University Hospital. She was listed in good condition and was expected to be released late Wednesday.
No charges were filed against Ms. Marshall, but the accident is under investigation by the Cincinnati Police traffic unit.
The other firefighter in the ambulance, Eddie Sparrow, 37, also was treated at Good Samaritan for minor in juries.
The wreck was unusual to Fire District Chief Will Jones because the firefighters were inside the parked ambulance, but, he said, it's common for firefighters to face danger as they rush to and from emergency scenes.
“It's one of the hazards of the job,” Chief Jones said, as he waited for his men to be treated at Good Samaritan. More often, he said, people don't pay attention to the emergency lights or accidentally hit firefighters exiting the ambulance on busy streets.
To Firefighter Triggs' 33-year-old fiancee, the hazards have been ingrained in her mind since he joined the division six years ago. Like most loved ones of firefighters, Ms. Fields said she fears calls like the one she received Wednesday every time her future husband goes to work.
The four firefighters with minor injuries were sent home for the day to recooperate.
“We were lucky we hadn't gotten out of that (back) door,” said Firefighter Triggs, who likely would have been the first to back out of the ambulance into the direct path of Ms. Marshall's car.
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