MOSCOW, Ohio — A driver was trapped inside an overturned car for roughly 35 minutes early Wednesday after the vehicle rolled onto its side and came to rest against a concrete culvert head wall on U.S. Route 52, prompting a multi-agency extrication effort and an air ambulance response, Washington Township Fire-Rescue said in a Facebook post.
The department’s Medic and Rescue 66 were dispatched to the single-vehicle crash in the 1800 block of U.S. 52 at about 4:50 a.m. Wednesday, according to the post. A volunteer firefighter-medic assigned to the department, identified by the department only by the call sign Firefighter 6617, arrived within two minutes and found the car on its side with heavy damage and a single occupant trapped inside with significant injuries.
The response was upgraded to a traffic collision with entrapment, bringing Franklin Township Fire and EMS’ Medic 14 and Monroe Township Fire & EMS’ Engine 33 to the scene, along with an initial check for aeromedical transport, the department said. Crews began extrication and advanced life support care once Medic and Rescue 66 arrived, and New Richmond Fire & EMS’ Engine 36 was called in for additional manpower given the severity of the entrapment.
An initial aeromedical helicopter was unavailable, and the crew declined that response because of the aircraft’s estimated arrival time, according to the post. As the extrication continued, crews requested a different air ambulance, and Air Evac Lifeteam 89, based in Brown County, responded to fly the patient out. Bethel-Tate Fire Department’s Engine 2 was also called in for manpower as the extrication evolved.
About 35 minutes after crews arrived, the patient was freed from the wreckage and moved to a waiting ambulance for stabilization before being taken to a landing zone for the flight to a hospital, the department said. The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated the crash.
Washington Township Fire-Rescue is based in Moscow and covers the Moscow and Neville area along the Ohio River in southern Clermont County, a roughly 36-square-mile district of about 2,200 residents. The department is led by Fire Chief James Haas and is staffed mostly by paid-per-call and part-time firefighters. Franklin Township Fire & EMS, based at Station 14 in Felicity, staffs its station around the clock and has been led by Fire Chief Brad Moore for 27 years.
In its post, the department thanked the “numerous organizations that responded to assist in this critical incident” and said its thoughts were with the patient and their family.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Washington Township Fire-Rescue.