11/22/2011 - Fatal MVC with entrapment - “A” Shift

Incident # 11-06208 – A Georgia woman lost her life in a single vehicle accident on I-95 at the 55 mile marker northbound, Tuesday morning 22-November. At 06:50, Fire-Rescue was notified of an over-turned vehicle with four people injured. Battalion 1 had an additional ambulance assigned to the incident. He arrived a few minutes later noting three patients were out of the over-turned Chevrolet Suburban and the driver was trapped in the wreckage. The vehicle struck a guardrail, then went airborne, landing on its roof in the rocks along the creek embankment. The large SUV received heavy damage, with portions of the roof crushed to the top of the seats. Firefighter-Paramedics crawled into the car, determined the trapped woman had no signs of life and notified the Coroner’s Office. The remaining three patients, an adult female and two female children were treated at the scene and transported to Colleton Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. When the Coroner’s Office completed their investigation, the wench on Rescue 1 was used to right the vehicle and pull it off of the rocks to stable ground. 

Firefighters used Holmatro Rescue Tools to cut a portion of the driver’s door away from the victim, then a hydraulic spreader to remove the door. The patient was extricated in about 8 minutes, then transported from the scene by the Coroner’s Office. Traffic was down to one lane for approximately two hours, causing it to back up several miles. The SC Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. The accident was located in a small portion of the highway annexed into the City of Walterboro. Their Public Safety units were notified and also responded.

Engine 26, Rescue 1, Medic 9, Medic 26, Battalion 1, Car 12 and Car 118 responded. Walterboro Public Safety responded with two officers and Engines 1 and 2. Battalion Chief Brent Dalton served as Incident Commander.