| Vehicle Down Embankment with Entrapment in Catoosa County CATOOSA COUNTY, GA – At about 4:15 PM, Thursday, February 26, 2009, Catoosa County Engine 3 responded to a reported motor vehicle crash with a vehicle off the roadway in the 3700 block of Highway 41 near Boofer Road. Upon arrival firefighters found a Ford Ranger pickup truck down an embankment with the female driver trapped inside and critically injured. They requested assistance from Catoosa County Rescue 1 and Engine 13. The pickup truck had been travelling southbound on Highway 41 when it left the roadway and obviously became airborne prior to striking several trees, spinning around and coming to rest with its front end against another tree. The front end of the truck was partially torn off and the remainder was pushed back into the driver pinning her beneath the dashboard. Firefighters had to use the hydraulic cutters to remove the drivers side door and then used a combination of the hydraulic ram and a chain attached to a winch cable to roll the dash away from the victim and hold it in place. While firefighters worked to remove the patient, medics with Angel EMS and flight medical personnel from the Life Force helicopter proved medical attention. Once the patient was removed she was placed on a backboard and then loaded into a stokes basket and hauled up the hill to be placed in the waiting ambulance. She was taken in the ambulance to the landing zone where Life Force transported her in critical condition to Erlanger Hospital. The Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department assisted on the scene and the accident is being investigated by the Georgia State Patrol. It is unknown if another vehicle was involved in the accident and fled the scene or if this was the only vehicle involved. Highway 41 was closed for about one hour while the patient was extricated and the accident investigated. |
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