Updated, scroll down.

SHANEA CLIMO, 23, WAS DRIVING AN AMBULANCE last year in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suburb of Marshall Township when she collided head-on with a car and killed both of the car’s occupants.  (Firegeezer report HERE.)

She was charged in the accident that took place on a foggy night and at her arraignment it was disclosed that she:

• had a blood alcohol level of .09 at the time of the crash
• was transporting a patient that did not need emergency care or transport, yet she entered the intesection against the red light at a speed of 64 mph (the speed limit there is 40 mph)
• had her lights on, but did not engage the siren until 2 seconds before the crash

Most of the evidence came from an onboard video camera mounted in the ambulance.  (see Firegeezer story HERE.)  This morning she will be tried on the charges.  We will update with the determination when we get the information.

KDKA-TV has a video report HERE.

Update, 5:00 pm:  Climo pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter this morning in a plea-deal agreement with the prosecutor.  As part of the agreement, the State dropped the drunk driving charges and she admitted to driving while impaired.  The prosecutor also dropped the two charges of homicide by vehicle.

She has agreed to a sentence of 11 1/2 to 23 months in Allegheny County Jail, but the judge has the discretion to change the incarceration penalty.  He has not set a date for sentencing.

IN ALBANY, NEW YORK, A CAPITAL DISTRICT AMBULANCE was traveling non-emergency Tuesday evening when a mini-van ran through a red light and collided with the ambulance.

WRGB-TV

The force of the collision left the ambulance with its front end smashed and the mini-van laying on its side.  Police say that the driver of the van will be charged.  Nobody was reported injured in the accident, but the two passengers in the van were transported for evaluation.  The ambulance did not have a patient onboard.

Channel 9 has the story. HERE.

WXXA Ch. 23 has this video report:

SOUTHWEST AMBULANCE SERVICE IS A PRIVATE PROVIDER in the Phoenix, Arizona, area.  Recently a Phoenix television station, KPHO Ch. 5 conducted what they claim is a 5-month investigation into allegations of sub-par service from the SWA.

Southwest Ambulance photo

Complaints had started arriving from both ambulance co. medics and local fire departments that relied on Southwest for medical care and transportation.  According to KPHO some of the problems they looked into and found were:

• Excessive response times
• Inadequate air conditioning systems in the ambulances leading to stored medications being exposed to excessive temperatures over 100º
• Many units missing basic supplies like oxygen bottles
• Several instances of units carrying expired medications, up to 2 years past their pull date
• Ambulances with more than 400,000 miles in service

In balance, Ch. 5 published Southwest’s response to their allegations, but it is notable that they don’t address the issues of the expired and missing medical supplies.  Instead, they write about the medic’s work schedule.

Read Channel 5’s report and Southwest’s response HERE.
Southwest Ambulance WEBSITE.

WHEN A QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, AMBULANCE GOT CAUGHT in a flash flood on Friday night, things got a little dicey for the crew that had a patient on board.

As Blackwater Ambulance paramedic Melissa Murdoch was driving along Capricorn Highway, a drenching rain brought a sudden surge of rising water that dampened the electrics on the ambulance, stalling the motor.

As the water reached knee-depth, Melissa started considering evacuating her patient and carrying her out when a man driving Land Rover behind her stopped and hooked up a tow line.  With the aid of several other passers-by, he attached the line to the ambulance and towed it out of the rising water to safe haven.  A second ambulance from Rockhampton was dispatched to complete the transport.

Yesterday the Queensland Ambulance Service publicly recognized the Good Samaritan and the story was covered in full by the The Morning Bulletin HERE.

NOT IN TURKEY, YOU CAN’T.  AN AMBULANCE CREW FROM ISTANBUL who strayed out of their territory to visit a colleague who had been transferred, are in deep doo-doo this morning.

The Hurriyet Daily News REPORTS:

The group took the ambulance from the Çatalca region of Istanbul on the European side to Kadiköy on the Asian side. After spending five hours at their friend’s house, the ambulance left at a late hour and traveled back to Çatalca.

The police, acting on a tip off, stopped the ambulance, which had its sirens on, and fined the driver YTL 480 and fined the municipality the ambulance belonged to a further YTL 480. While the driver at first refused to stop, police were able to halt the ambulance before it got on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. Police officers saw there was no patient on board and the driver of the ambulance did not have the necessary documentation. The ambulance has been impounded by police.

Ouch!!

AN AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE (AMR) AMBULANCE was involved in a collision in Lompoc, California, Saturday that cause the ambulance to roll over.

Lompoc Record / Gonzaga photo

The AMR ambulance had a patient on board who was being transported on a non-emergency transfer when the wreck occurred.  The Lompoc Record reports:

(Police) said that Purgason, who was southbound on Highway 1 in the Chevrolet Silverado truck, traveling about the speed limit, waved at a driver next to him that he recognized and the truck drifted off the left side of the road into the center median.

Purgason overcorrected the steering wheel, and the truck veered onto northbound Highway 1 and struck the northbound ambulance, Schmidt said.

The collision caused the ambulance to roll over and land on its roof off the side of the highway, coming to rest about 50 feet down an embankment, he said. The truck stopped on its wheels in the northbound lanes.

The 53-yr.-old driver of the pickup was airlifted to the hospital where he was admitted in stable condition.  His passenger was uninjured.  The driver and the patient from the ambulance were both treated and released from the hospital.

The Lompoc Record has the STORY.

AN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, POLICE OFFICER and an Albuquerque Ambulance EMT got into a disagreement Thursday evening over the proper care of a patient.  When it was over, the EMT was in handcuffs and is being charged with battery on a police officer.

They were on the scene with a reportedly-suicidal woman and while the EMT was evaluating her the cop tried to restrain the woman.  The EMT then pushed the policewoman and told her to “let go of my patient.”

KRQE Ch. 13 has the video report:

IN NAPLES, FLORIDA, A COLLIER COUNTY AMBULANCE ended up on its side after being struck by an unmarked sheriff’s car Friday morning.

The ambulance was carrying a patient and responding to the hospital when it was struck by the police car in the left rear area, knocking the ambulance onto its right side.

The drivers of both vehicles were transported with minor injuries, however the EMS worker in the rear of the ambulance who was not wearing a seat belt suffered serious injuries with a broken pelvis.  The 70-yr.-old patient was airlifted to another hospital.

Both drivers told the Florida Highway Patrolman working the accident that they had the green light at the intersection.  The FHP is continuing the investigation by interviewing some independent witnesses.  Speed is not being considered a factor in the wreck.

The Naples Daily News has the STORY.