Notable Events
3/5/08
At the March 3rd, Board of Directors Meeting, the BOD
voted to purchase an ambulance with current funds, and donations from
the community. They decided not to wait for the ambulance or the
roughly $120,000 that Albemarle County Fire and Rescue allocated for
replacement of our 1997 ambulance #501. This County's commitment was
made in 2005 and put on hold because of a lack of funds in 2006.
Delays and discussions on vehicle specifications continue to put the
purchase of an ambulance with allocated funds remains on hold.
The BOD also voted to deny supporting the Fee for Service or
Revenue Recovery plan that the county is proposing. It was noted that
with the limited information about the program, they had no choice
but to not support it.
7/15/00
On Friday, July 15th, WARS was toned out Trauma/Squad for
a head-on MVA on I-64 between mile markers 105 and 107. Trauma 504
responded with Anne Marie Adler, Scott Currence, Becky Youkey, and
Chris Martin-Gill and Pegasus was placed on standby while en route.
On arrival, the crew was met by Bob Coleman, who arrived via personal
vehicle. The accident involved two pickup trucks that had collided
head-on with a 400 offset after the vehicle going
westbound veered into the eastbound lane. Each vehicle was going
about 60-70 mph at impact, with only a driver in each vehicle. After
an initial assessment, Chris Martin-Gill and Bob Coleman went to the
priority 1 patient (Pt. 1) that was pinned in the vehicle while Anne
Marie Adler, Scott Currence, and Becky Youkey attended the priority 2
patient (Pt. 2). Dr. George Lindbeck was already on scene and was
with Pt. 1, provided the initial assessment, and requested Pegasus.
At that time, units from Station 5, Roger Baldino in Squad 505, Gary
Conley in 501, and Kostas Alibertis, Tammie Gough, and Todd Lucas
arrived on scene. Two IV’s were started and Pt 1 was extricated
with the help of Bob Knox and the Pegasus crew, as Pt. 2 was prepared
for transport in 501. Once immobilized, Pt. 1 was taken to Pegasus in
504 and then transported to UVA.
Once rescue workers thought it was all over, a series of honks were heard just as Bob Coleman began yelling for everyone to move out of the way. Turning several stomachs, an 18-wheeler truck was seen at high velocity heading straight for the blocked off accident scene, with waves of smoke coming from the tires, coming straight for Station 5’s brush truck and Squad 505. As rescue workers and bystanders scattered, a firefighter from Station 5 was able to get several cars to move from the inside lane onto the median. This provided just enough room for the still high-speed truck to veer at the last minute and fly through the scene on the inside lane, barely missing both rescue vehicles. A huge commendation goes to that firefighter (who’s name was unavailable).
5/13/00
On Saturday, May 13th, 2000, members of the WARS Friday Night Crew
(Allison Kern, Anne Marie Adler, Becky Youkey, Carol Araiza, &
Bob Coleman) and two of our line officers (Kostas Alibertis, Captain
and Dan Shumard, then 2nd Lieutenant) responded to a motor vehicle
accident on I-64 at about the 105 mile marker. There they found a
single 4 door car with two passengers that had run into the rear of
an 18-wheel truck. Both passengers were unrestrained. The driver, a
21 year-old female was able to get out of the car, but the other
passenger, her grandfather, had to be extricated by Kostas Alibetis
and members of Station 5. There was heavy damage to the vehicle and
it took extricators about an hour to safely remove the patient from
the vehicle while the granddaughter and truck driver were being
transported to the hospital by a trauma-level crew. Terry Ferguson,
an ER nurse at UVA, had been driving home from work, was on scene
when rescue arrived, and was able to provide our EMTs with a patient
assessment on their arrival, as well as help with patient care. State
and county police were also on scene to assist rescue workers. The
entire call was a great example of team work. We’d like to
extend a special thank you to members of Station 5 (including Phil
Coadle and our own Roger Baldino), Terry Ferguson, state and county
police, and all WARS members who were on that call.
9/19/1999
Members of the regional disaster task force from the TJEMS Council,
including WARS members Kostas Alibertis and Dan Shumard, joined
rescue efforts in Franklin, Virginia after the floods and damage of
Hurricane Floyd. Three days were spent in the Tidewater area
providing assistance and relief to local rescue workers of
Franklin.
9/13/1999
Car 507 has been put into service after the hard work of the Truck
committee which includes Motor Sergeant, Roger Baldino, Kostas
Alibertis and Mike Shavis as well as help from 2nd Lieutenant Tom
Goodrich.
9/11/1999
WARS participated in a disaster drill at the
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport along with many other EMS agencies
from the surrounding area. The drill simulated a plane crash
with 57 victims. Rescue workers moved quickly to assess the
number and condition of the patients. Patients were simulated
by volunteers from the community painted with injuries and wounds
possible from such an accident. In less than two hours WARS
helped to treat and transport all victims from the crash site.
WARS ambulance 504 was pressed into service.
8/8/1999
WARS received a request from ECC to assist in efforts to find at two
year old boy lost near his aunt's home in Scottsville. Members
Allison Kern, Tina Baber, Roger Baldino, Mike Grinnell and Dan
Shumard responded with Ambulance 504 and Car 506 along with members
of many area agencies, including Crozet Volunteer Fire Dept.
Members participated in several search tasks until well after
dark. Fortunately the young boy was found the next day and
reunited with his family.
August
1999
Please join us in warm Birthday Wishes to Honorary Life Member and
Driver, Frances Henry who has served WARS and our community for 10
years. Frances celebrated her 70th birthday this year and
continues to drive on many crews here at WARS.
Summer
1999
Congratulations to Mary Mesz, Heather Brookman, Alice Chang, Mary Lee
who have successfully completed the Shock Trauma course and received
their certification!
Congratulations to Carolyn Virusky who has successfully completed her
EMT-B to Cardiac Tech bridge course. Carolyn has already been
very busy running ALS calls and we are pleased to have her excellent
abilities.
Congratulations to Chris Martin-Gill who has completed his EMT-B to
Paramedic course and just recently passed his Mega-Code.
5/7/1998
WARS responded to yet another multiple vehicle accident on I-64.
While minor in contrast to the event detailed below, a total of 18
cars and trucks were involved in this accident on a foggy, rainy
evening on Afton Mountain. This accident occurred at the 101 mile
marker, which is slightly on the Albemarle County side of Afton
Mountain. Surrounding agencies once again responded to assist us, and
their help is greatly appreciated.
4/19/1998
On the afternoon of Sunday, April 19, 1998, Western Rescue was
dispatched to an MVA Interstate 64 on Afton Mountain, which is
notorious for bad driving conditions. Personnel arriving on the scene
found a multiple vehicle pile-up rapidly multiplying in size due to
foggy conditions on the mountain. Western Rescue First Lieutenant
Todd Lucas assumed incident command and requested that other area
agencies be dispatched to assist with the high number of patients.
Members and apparatus from numerous surrounding agencies responded to
assist WARS with this incident.
In all, 65 cars were involved in the pile-up and many patients were triage to local hospitals. All told, 35 patients were transported to Augusta Medical Center in Fishersville, about 10 miles away, and 5 were transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, about 20 miles from the scene. A physician from Augusta Medical Center was brought to the scene to triage patients based on the severity of their injuries, and those who sustained only minor injuries were transported by bus to Augusta Medical Center.
Further notes:
- See Pictures of this incident here
- The events of the afternoon were seen on multiple news agencies around the nation including CNN and multiple NBC affiliates.
- WARS responded all of our apparatus; 3 ambulances and a heavy duty squad truck.
- Incident command was terminated at approximately 1715 hours and all apparatus were placed in service.
- WARS greatly thanks all members and agencies who assisted us with this call.
- WARS has previously responded to a similar accident on the same stretch of roadway approximately six years ago.
- The exact location of this accident was on Interstate 64 at approximately mile marker 100, about 20 miles west of Charlottesville, Virginia.
