| On Tuesday, November 19th, 2013, at approximately 0846 hrs (8:46 AM) in the heart of rush hour, the East Whiteland Fire Company was alerted to a motor vehicle accident with "unknown injuries" on Rt. 202 Northbound north of Rt. 29. Within a minute however, supplemental 9-1-1 calls indicated a far more serious situation on hand, with reports of an overturned box truck with multiple vehicles involved in the collision, and people trapped. With the additional reports of entrapment and the seriousness of the situation, Chester County Fireboard added Medic 4 (Malvern) to the call.
Station 5 Fire/Rescue and EMS responded immediately, and first arriving units (Engine 5-2 and Ambulance 5-1) confirmed the reports of a serious accident involving both north and southbound lanes of Rt. 202 in the area of Rt. 202 and Cedar Hollow Rd of Tredyffrin township. First arriving units found an overturned box truck and 2 vehicles wrecked in the northbound lanes with 2 patients, and 4 vehicles in the southbound lanes with 2 patients. Injuries ranged from minor to serious trauma.
With a large incident on hand, Sgt. 5 (M. Fink) established "Rt. 202 Command" and requested additional resources to the scene, bringing assistance from Stations 2 (Berwyn), 3 (Paoli), and 4 (Malvern). East Whiteland Firefighters extricated one trapped patient from their car utilizing the "Jaws of Life" while EMS crews from all stations worked hand-in-hand together to triage and attend to all victims.
With an extended extrication time, severe traumatic injuries, and limited access on and off the highway compounded with gridlock traffic in both direction, command requested an areomedical "medevac" helicopter to the scene to transport the most serious patient to a regional trauma center. One patient was flown to Reading Hospital Trauma Center and admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. Three additional patients were transported via ambulance to Paoli Memorial Hospital's Trauma Center in stable condition.
Firefighters from East Whiteland and Paoli helped with fluid and debris control, while fire police from stations 2, 3, and 5 assisted with traffic control.
Rt. 202 remained closed for several hours while police conducted an investigation and the scene was cleaned up. Rt. 202 finally was fully re-opened at 1300 hrs (1 pm).
The East Whiteland Fire Company wishes to extend our thanks to all our mutual aid departments for their assistance and professionalism on a job well done to handle a difficult situation safely. |
