Amish Wreck

I found this on firehouse. How do you hit a horse drawn wagon? This is a first for me. Interesting.

 

http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?id=42455&sectionId=45

 

Ten People Injured When Car Collides with Amish Buggy in Ohio

MIKE WATIKER / CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Firehouse.com

Nine people riding in a horse-drawn Amish buggy were injured last night when the coach they were riding in was struck from behind by a car.

Rescue personnel from three Ohio counties were called to the scene in Middlefield Township just before dusk last night, June 9, 2005.

According to Middlefield Fire Department Assistant Chief Jack Klingman, at 7:50 P.M. firefighters from Middlefield and paramedics from Community Care Ambulance responded to the report of buggy crash on Burton-Windsor Rd in eastern Geauga County.

This is approximately 40 miles southeast of the City of Cleveland.

According to Troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the buggy was traveling westbound when it was struck from the rear by a 4-door Nissan Stanza that was attempting to pass the buggy on this stretch of two lane rural roadway.

While responding firefighters from Middlefield had received radio traffic reporting several injuries, but it wasn�t until they arrived on the scene that they realized the devastation and number of trauma victims.

Middlefield Chief Klingman, who would become the scene's incident commander, immediately called for mutual aid. The Montville FD, Bristol FD, Burton FD, and Windsor FD all sent manpower, ALS medics, and other support vehicles.

According to Chief Klingman "The buggy just blew apart, ejecting two adults and seven children onto the roadway."

Due to the mechanism of injury, all members of the Amish family were considered Level 1 trauma patients, and a call went out for medical helicopters. A total of five ships were dispatched to the scene and to Geauga Hospital nearby.

Rotor-wing aircraft from University Hospital's MedEvac, Cleveland Metro Lifeflight, and STAT MedEvac all responded with the ground companies.

The initial arriving medical personnel quickly set up a triage system and began to treat the injured. The family of nine, all laying in the roadway, was suffering from multi system trauma and everyone had some type of head injury.

The injured included the parents, a male and female both in their late 20's and their seven children. The juveniles were ages 2 months, two 14-month old twins, and children ages 2, 3, 4 and 6.

The driver of the car, who was alone in the vehicle received minor spinal injuries and was transported as a precaution.

The first three responding aircraft were directed to the scene and transported a total of five adult and pediatric victims to Level 1 trauma centers in Cleveland and Youngstown.

Other pediatric victims were later flown from Geauga Hospital to Cleveland Metro Hospital and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. Both are in Cleveland and are both ACS certified Level 1 trauma centers.

The accident remains under investigation at this time by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. No charges have been filed. The buggy was displaying the required orange slow moving vehicle triangle and also had reflective striping on the rear.

The horse that was pulling the buggy at the time of the crash was also injured and was put down at the scene due to the extent of its injuries.

The Middlefield Fire Department is a volunteer organization responding from two stations. They responded to 744 calls for service in 2004. Their website can be visited at: www.middlefieldfire.org.