22/December/2013 – Fatal High Speed MVC with two Air Evacs – “A” Shift

Incident # 13-06935 - A high speed head-on collision near New Hope Crossroads in Islandton Sunday morning has left two Varnville residents with injuries and one man deceased. The accident occurred at 11:30 on 22-December in front of 13792 Sniders Highway. A west bound Chevrolet Impala crossed the center line and struck an eastbound Nissan X-Terra head-on. The Impala narrowly missed another eastbound vehicle before striking the X-Terra. The driver of the Impala was found unconscious and in critical condition. It is suspected that he suffered a medical emergency prior to the crash. A female passenger in the X-Terra suffered serious injuries. Engine 15 requested additional ambulances and two medical helicopters. Firefighters from Stations 10 and 15 arrived within minutes and began caring for the injured people. Firefighter-Paramedics treated the patients at the scene, then transported two injured people in Medics 1 and 18 to a nearby field to meet with the helicopters. LifeNet 4 from Walterboro and LifeStar 1 from Springfield Georgia responded. Both patients were flown to the Trauma Center at MUSC in Charleston. The third patient, an adult male, was transported to Colleton Medical Center in Walterboro. Traffic on Sniders Highway was completely blocked for about an hour until the vehicles and debris could be removed. The driver of the Impala passed away after arriving at MUSC. The SC Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

Engine 10, Engine 15, Medic 1, Medic 13, Medic 18, Battalion 1 and Car 12 responded. Lt. Rodney Murdaugh served as Incident Commander.