Thursday, April 03, 2008
Man Falls From Bridge
MATEWAN – A freak fall late Tuesday night has left an unidentified man in critical condition.
Just minutes before midnight the 40-years-old victim fell from the Delorme Bridge, which spans the Tug River between Edgarton and Freeburn, Ky., and landed in shallow water and a bed of rocks below.
The victim suffered multiple trauma and head injuries, said members of the Matewan Volunteer Fire Department who responded to the scene.
The MVFD was dispatched to the scene to help STAT Ambulance Service crews get the victim out of the water and up the embankment to the waiting ambulance.
Paramedic Richard Petticrew said the information he had gathered while on scene with the patient was that he had fallen approximately 45 to 50 feet from the bridge above.
A landing zone was set up near the Matewan City Hall, and HealthNet Aeromedical Services was brought in to airlift the patient to a trauma center in Huntington.
“The mechanism of injury and the distance of the fall were two of the main indicators for flying this patient to a trauma center,” said Petticrew.
The flight crew and Petticrew refused to give any information about specific injuries.
Petticrew did say the victim's condition "was critical" at the time of the transfer.
The patient was flown to Cabell Huntington Hospital’s trauma unit, where he was evaluated and treated for his injuries and remains a patient in the intensive care unit.
Nursing supervisors at the hospital refused to give any information concerning the patient’s condition, citing the HIPPA regulations.
Mingo County Sheriff’s Deputies Phillip Muncy and Eric Sherrill are investing the accident. Anyone with any information, or who can make a positive identification of the victim is asked to contact Chief Field Deputy James Smith at the sheriff’s office by calling (304) 235-0300.
Courtesy : Tony Christian Staff Writer From The Williamson Daily News
Just minutes before midnight the 40-years-old victim fell from the Delorme Bridge, which spans the Tug River between Edgarton and Freeburn, Ky., and landed in shallow water and a bed of rocks below.
The victim suffered multiple trauma and head injuries, said members of the Matewan Volunteer Fire Department who responded to the scene.
The MVFD was dispatched to the scene to help STAT Ambulance Service crews get the victim out of the water and up the embankment to the waiting ambulance.
Paramedic Richard Petticrew said the information he had gathered while on scene with the patient was that he had fallen approximately 45 to 50 feet from the bridge above.
A landing zone was set up near the Matewan City Hall, and HealthNet Aeromedical Services was brought in to airlift the patient to a trauma center in Huntington.
“The mechanism of injury and the distance of the fall were two of the main indicators for flying this patient to a trauma center,” said Petticrew.
The flight crew and Petticrew refused to give any information about specific injuries.
Petticrew did say the victim's condition "was critical" at the time of the transfer.
The patient was flown to Cabell Huntington Hospital’s trauma unit, where he was evaluated and treated for his injuries and remains a patient in the intensive care unit.
Nursing supervisors at the hospital refused to give any information concerning the patient’s condition, citing the HIPPA regulations.
Mingo County Sheriff’s Deputies Phillip Muncy and Eric Sherrill are investing the accident. Anyone with any information, or who can make a positive identification of the victim is asked to contact Chief Field Deputy James Smith at the sheriff’s office by calling (304) 235-0300.
Courtesy : Tony Christian Staff Writer From The Williamson Daily News
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 12:42 AM 
