This Week in EMS: A Recap for July 21 - 27, 2007

Three Ohio EMTs and two patients were killed last Friday night in one of the worst ground ambulance accidents in U.S. history.

EMSResponder.com's Susan Nicol Kyle reports that the crew from Antwerp EMS was transporting the two patients from a previous wreck when their ambulance collided with a commercial truck. Upon impact, the rig's fuel tank was ruptured and the emergency vehicle burst into flames. The ambulance is unrecognizable in an incident photo provided by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The EMTs killed were Sammy R. Smith, 64, Heidi McDougall, 31, and Kelly J. Rager, 25. The patients were Robert R. Wells, 64, and Armelda Wells, 60, of Hicksville.

Another EMT, Matt McDougall, 31, and the truck driver, Gerald D. Chapman Jr., 54, of Bryant, Ind., were injured and transported to the hospital. McDougall is also the chief of Antwerp EMS.

For Susan's original report visit Ohio Ambulance Crash Kills Three EMTs, Two Civilians.

For an update including memorial details and photos of the three rescuers, visit Memorial Service Set for Ohio EMS Crew. Click on each rescuer's name in the photo caption to read more about them and to leave condolences at the funeral home's website.

Look for more on this tragedy in the September issue of EMS Magazine.

In lighter news this week, the personnel at Fairfax County, Virginia Fire and Rescue Department Station 12 are starting to get a reputation as deer rescuers after saving two fawns in incidents just six weeks apart.

Most recently, they set a fawn's broken leg at the request of volunteer Kimberley Sisco of the local Wildlife Rescue League. The deer was scheduled for surgery in several days, but was unable to secure any emergency care until the rescue crew agreed to assist. The crew knew Sisco well because they had called on her during their first deer rescue, when they found a fawn during a training session on the Potomac River.

Additional fawn rescue photos and news video are available along with the full article by public safety reporter Dave Statter of WUSA9, Virginia Rescuers Set Fawn's Broken Leg.

If you've ever been on the verge of burnout you may take heart in a feature article this week about a top Philharmonic cellist who is giving up her high profile, six-figure gig to take on her real dream job -- paramedic. The changeover is reminiscent of a similar move by rocker David Lee Roth in 2004, although he later returned to celebrity status as a radio personality and performer.

In any case, it's a reminder that despite any issues that may make personnel feel undervalued in EMS, the job remains right up there, in the hearts and minds of many, as a top career aspiration.

Nancy Donaruma says her physical skill as a cellist - manual dexterity and quick, supple fingers - "is good for starting IVs and feeling pulses." She says other overlapping qualities are the ability "to be very focused and do something in an immediate fashion - and not to make any mistakes."

Read more about Nancy's transition in Philharmonic Cellist Answers Call as Paramedic.

In another animal article this week, it has been reported that a Providence, Rhode Island cat that lives in a nursing home is able to predict when patients are going to die, and curls up next to them during their final hours.

Oscar makes his own rounds like the doctors and nurses, sniffing and observing patients, but it is unclear how he chooses who to sit beside. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone because it usually means they have less than four hours to live.

Although this is not an emergency medical story, it seems fitting to share here because Oscar has much in common with EMS personnel in needing to come to terms with death on a regular basis, and to simply provide comfort for all those present.