Kan. Paramedic Describes Crash that Totaled Ambulance

Dec. 04--ELLSWORTH -- At first when he felt the driver hit the brakes, paramedic Rick Soukup, who was riding with a patient in the rear of an Ellsworth County ambulance headed to Salina, wasn't concerned.

Although it's not uncommon to encounter deer, they usually scatter when they hear the sirens.

"Then all of a sudden I heard all the tires locking up and squealing on the road, and I knew at that point it probably wasn't a deer," Soukup said.

The ambulance, which was running with its lights and sirens Tuesday morning as it carried a patient in critical condition, had encountered a Ford F-350 pickup truck hauling a large, round hay bale on Kansas Highway 140, just west of Brookville.

The eastbound truck had slowed, but not to let the ambulance pass, as had the other vehicles encountered on the road. Instead, the truck driver -- apparently unaware of the ambulance approaching fast from behind -- had slowed to turn left into a field.

The ambulance, which had pulled out into the oncoming lane to pass the truck, was on a path to T-bone the truck on the driver's side. But then, ambulance driver Jeremiah Brown, 34, swerved back to the right to avoid hitting the cab of the truck, instead striking the rear of its flatbed, Soukup said. Perhaps as a result of that, Donald Goddard, 52, who was driving the truck, was not injured. Goddard could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Quick reaction

However, Brown -- an advanced emergency medical technician -- was injured. He remained in serious condition Thursday at Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis, in Wichita. A hospital spokeswoman said a change in Brown's condition from fair on Wednesday to serious on Thursday was related to treatment he was receiving and did not indicate a decline in his health.

"Thank God my driver reacted the way he did -- he took a horrible situation and just made it bad," Soukup said. "That guy in that pickup definitely wouldn't have got out and walked away the way he did. My driver did an exceptional job of putting things together. I commend him on that greatly."

Kathryn Whitmer, 57, of Wilson, who was being transported in the ambulance to Salina Regional Health Center, died Wednesday, according to a website for Foster Mortuary, of Wilson.

Soukup said Whitmer, who was on a gurney attached to the ambulance and held in place by at least three seat belts, received no trauma in the crash.

Kansas Highway Patrol representatives investigating the crash did not return phone calls Thursday from the Journal.

Happened in slow motion

Soukup said this was the first crash he'd been involved in in 17 years of transferring patients to Salina on K-140. He said he typically travels to Salina about once a day, although one day he made the trip seven times.

When the crash occurred, he was wearing a lap belt in the rear-facing "captain seat" in the box of the ambulance, where he could assist the patient if needed.

During the collision, his right shoulder hit a cabinet "and from that point on, everything went very, very much slow motion for me," Soukup said. He said his back scraped on the doors of the cabinet and it looked like his shoulder was about to go through a window, so he stuck his foot in the door well and stopped himself.

He said when the ambulance came to a stop, the cab was full of smoke from the air bags of the totaled vehicle. He called to Brown and asked if he could radio for help, but Brown said there was no power.

Driver of ambulance pinned

Soukup said he had been on his cell phone giving the hospital an update on the patient when the wreck occurred, and the phone flew out of his hand. He searched on the floor until he found it and then called a dispatcher, asking for two ambulances and a rescue truck to be sent from the Salina Fire Department.

Soukup said after he took care of his patient, he got out and went to see if he could free Brown, whose left leg was pinned in the cab of the ambulance.

"Once I got outside the truck, I knew there was nothing I could do with my bare hands to relieve him, so I stuck my hand down inside the window where his leg was pinned to make sure he wasn't bleeding," Soukup said.

Soukup said when Salina firefighters arrived, they pulled the wreckage away, freeing Brown's leg.

Soukup said he has a doctor's appointment today to see if he is cleared to return to work. He still was sore on Thursday.

That steel bumper

He said after being treated in the Salina hospital's emergency department, he returned to the Ellsworth County EMS building and studied the crumpled front of the 2012 ambulance, which had been one of three operated by the ambulance service.

He's convinced that the crash might have killed Brown if not for a steel bumper added about a year ago after the vehicle hit a deer. He said the heavy, steel bumper was made by ThunderStruck Bumpers, a company that had constructed its bumpers in Salina before recently relocating to Abilene.

Dale Jones, who owns ThunderStruck Bumpers with his partner Casen Brown, said Thursday that the ambulance crash was "not the way we like to get advertising." He said the company's customized bumpers for law enforcement and emergency vehicles are designed to "protect the protectors."

They also make steel bumpers that mainly are purchased for construction and farm vehicles, and for trucks and vans that operate in areas with deer. He said that currently the company manufactures about 4,000 bumpers a year, which are sold across the United States.

Have to pay attention

Soukup said he understands how easy it is to get into a routine while driving the same route every day. He said for farm vehicles, it's common for turn signals to become obscured by mud.

"I guess the advice that I have not only for farmers but for absolutely everybody -- including kids -- that are driving: Pay attention," Soukup said. "Stay off the cell phones. Turn down your stereo. If you're going to turn, that's why they put mirrors on vehicles. Look at your mirrors."

-- Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by email at emathews@salina.com.

Copyright 2015 - The Salina Journal, Kan.