07/October/2014 – MVC with entrapment, Air Evac & HazMat – “B” Shift

Incident # 14-05913 – A 49 year old Walterboro woman was severely injured in a high speed MVC in the 1400 block of Confederate Highway (SC Hwy 641) Tuesday afternoon 07-October. At 15:28, 9-1-1 began receiving reports of an overturned tractor trailer with one person ejected. Callers advised the truck was on top of the patient. Medic 18, Rescue 18 and Engine 4 arrived to find a tractor trailer on its side and a female patient trapped partially under the cab. The truck driver suffered only minor injuries. The pair advised the woman was asleep in the sleeper of the truck when the accident occurred. The fiberglass top was dislodged and it appeared the woman was ejected through the roof. Firefighter-Paramedics began treating the woman and used Holmatro High Pressure Air Bags to lift the truck off of the patient. A medical helicopter had been requested and flew to a field near the scene. The truck was hauling an intermodal container and the driver stated he did not know what the load was. After the patient was freed and loaded into Medic 18, personnel retrieved the shipping papers from the cab which indicated the truck was hauling several hazardous chemicals. The scene was evacuated and HazMat, DHEC and Chemtrec were contacted. Medic 18 transported the patient to meet with LifeNet 4 who flew the patient to the Trauma Center at MUSC. Medic 13 transported the driver to Colleton Medical Center.

HazMat 19 set up east of the scene and the highway was blocked limiting access to the area. Firefighters using Level A suits accessed the trailer and verified that no shipping containers were breached and there were no leaks. Once cleared, recovery teams righted the vehicles and towed them from the scene. Fire-Rescue units were on the scene for five hours. The SC highway Patrol and State Transport Police are investigating the accident.  

Engine 4, Engine 18, Engine 23, Rescue 1, Rescue 18, Medic 13, Medic 18, HazMat 19, Squad 27, Car 107, Car 110, Car 117, Car 118, Car 119 and DHEC responded. Deputy Chief David Greene, Asst. Chief Marty Stallings and Battalion Chief Joey Campbell operated the Command Post.