Four Injured in Maryland Ambulance Accident

The two-man team aboard Paramedic 17 was heading back to its station this morning in Arnold, but had to drop off another firefighter in Cape St. Claire first.

Paramedics Brian Haines and Michael Johnson and Firefighter David Benton had just finished taking a woman injured in a three-car crash on the Bay Bridge to a Baltimore hospital.

They didn't even get a call for their next emergency.

As the ambulance headed east just after 1 a.m. on College Parkway near Falcon Crest Court, it was struck on the right front side by a westbound 1997 Honda Civic that crossed the center line, county police said.

The paramedics and firefighter, all of whom were eventually taken to the hospital themselves, jumped out of their heavily damaged ambulance and began treating the woman inside the car - 24-year-old Leah Genine Parker of Arnold.

"That's adrenaline and instinct," said Lt. Russ Davies, spokesman for the county Fire Department. "It's instinct to help -- and you don't give any thought to your own regard."

Ms. Parker was taken by ambulance to the Anne Arundel Medical Center. She was treated and released.

Paramedic Haines, 37, of Cambridge, who was driving, and Firefighter Benton, 29, of Church Hill, who was riding in the back, were taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center with minor injuries. Paramedic Johnson, 36, of Elkridge, who was riding in the front, was taken to the Shock Trauma Center at University Hospital in Baltimore. All were treated and released. No charges have been filed, but an investigation is continuing. Officer Terry Williams Jr. said he could smell a "very strong odor" of alcohol on Ms. Parker and that she told him she had been drinking.

The trio in Paramedic 17 was returning from the trauma center when the crash happened.

Lt. Davies explained the paramedics were heading to the Cape St. Claire station at 1411 Cape St. Claire Road to drop off Firefighter Benton, who had served as the ambulance driver in the Bay Bridge crash so that the two paramedics could devote themselves to treating the woman in the back.

If the ambulance, which was less than a year old, is ruined, Lt. Davies estimated the replacement would cost $150,000. A reserve ambulance, which was stationed elsewhere in the county, was moved to Arnold to take the place of the damaged unit.

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