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Fire photographer John Spaulding shared some photos from a recent vehicle rescue in the village of Churchville, New York.
Early Saturday morning, the Churchville Fire Department and Ambulance was dispatched for a single-car crash. The first-arriving chief happened to notice four-way flashers reflecting off a road sign. The Chevy pickup truck was down a 15-foot embankment among many trees.
If not for OnStar being automatically activated and GPS used, the victim would likely not have been found until the next day on account of the semi-remote location of the incident and being so far down in off the roadway.
The truck apparently left the roadway without any attempts to negotiate the 90-degree turn and there was no indication of braking. The truck glanced off a two-foot tree and then went airborne for 50 feet until it struck another two-foot tree head on, according to Spaulding.
The fire department used chainsaws and two power supplies with extrication tools to effect the rescue in about 30 minutes. They had set up ground ladders and tag lines to negotiate bring equipment, personnel, and the victim via Stokes basket to the awaiting ambulance.
The patient was rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital with a paramedic from Monroe Ambulance. The victim underwent nine hours of surgery. He sustained multiple broken bones in each extremity, a closed head injury, and multiple organ issues including bladder, spleen, and gall bladder. He is reportedly going to need many more surgeries.
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