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Articles Tagged with ambulance accident

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Monthly ambulance crashes in NYCAn elderly woman died and 8 other people were injured after a car T-boned an ambulance in New York City.

The accident took place last Sunday afternoon around 3:00 pm in Flatlands, Brooklyn, NYC. An Hatzola ambulance was transporting a 95 year old woman who suffered a cardiac arrest  to the hospital. The emergency vehicle was  heading South on Schenectady Avenue with its lights and sirens on according to witnesses.  As it crossed Avenue N, the ambulance was T-boned by a car travelling west bound on Avenue N.

A witness told the NY Daily News that the light had just turned from orange to red when the ambulance crossed the intersection and that the driver of the black Nissan who was speeding might not have heard the ambulance sirens.

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A FDNY fire truck crashed into an ambulance killing the patient and injuring 11 others. The truck accident occurred on Thursday around 12:50 am. An ambulance transporting 59 year old Jamil Almansouri, a patient with a cardiac emergency was rushing North on Throop Avenue with its lights and sirens on. As the ambulance crossed the intersection of Myrtle Ave, a FDNY truck responding to a call for an apartment fire with all sirens and lights on as well, t-boned the ambulance. The patient flew across the ambulance and died. Almansouri was a Yemeni immigrant who owned a neighborhood bodega in Brooklyn and known by everybody as “Mike”. His sister, Granna Ahmad, who was in the ambulance with him survived, however she suffered multiple personal injuries including a broken back and two broken legs. She also lost all her teeth. The medical technician who was in the back with the deceased victim and his sister also suffered serious injury. The driver of the ambulance was hospitalized and required surgery for a serious leg injury. Six firefighters were also taken to to the hospital as well as two other people who were in a car waiting at a traffic light and whose car was also struck in the crash.

The firemen received a call at 12:43 initially reporting that people were trapped in a building. 6 minutes later the ambulance picked up Alamsouri who was in critical condition and took off for Woodhull Medical Center. Two minutes later, both vehicles crashed into each other, 3 blocks away from the  apartment fire. Thankfully, only one resident was living in the building and he was able to escape on his own.

According to preliminary investigations, the ambulance had the green light while the fire truck had the red light. However both vehicles had the right to bypass the light as they were both responding to a 911 emergency.  Some protruding scaffolding on a building near the intersection might have blocked the view of the fire truck driver.

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NYC ambulance accidents3 people suffered personal injury in an ambulance accident in New York City. The accident occurred Tuesday morning around 7:30 a.m. on East Fordham Road at Elm Place. The FDNY ambulance careened into an optical store after it collided with a car. The ambulance was on its way to a call. Two FDNY workers who were in the ambulance as well as one of the car occupants were injured and rushed to the hospital. Thankfully there were no pedestrians on the sidewalk or in the store which was closed.

Ambulance accidents are unfortunately occurring too often in New York City. Despite having special exemption from stopping at red-lights and stop signs as well as from speed limits ambulance drivers still have to be mindful of pedestrians, cyclists and other motor vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists are especially vulnerable to being run down by speeding ambulances. When such accidents occur, it is not always easy for the victims or their family to get proper compensation for their injuries or the loss of a loved one because of what is known as the “emergency doctrine” pursuant to which emergency responders involved in accidents  on emergency calls can’t be held responsible unless they drove with reckless disregard for the safety of others.

Almost 100 ambulance accidents every month in NYC

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To prevent traffic crashes, the New York Fire Department is considering adding a safety device under the seat of the ambulance driver to analyze in real time the speed, g-force, seat belt use, lights, sirens and other factors. When the driver becomes too aggressive by driving too fast or taking turns too hard the device emits a sound to alert him.

This device is already used by the emergency medical services at Jersey City Medical Center and drivers said they really like it because it helps them to make an appropriate decision in terms of response time while keeping the safety of the crew and other people on the road in mind.

In the US, there are 10,000 ambulance accidents every year.