Edmund, SC (Paul Kirby) – Several serious accidents Wednesday required firefighters and EMTs to utilize their vehicle extrication training to free trapped occupants from twisted cars. Both crashes injured the occupants of the vehicles and both caused traffic tie-ups for other motorists.
The first accident happened just before 11:00 a.m. at SC Hwy. 6 and Jason Road between Edmund and Sharpe’s Hill. Firefighters from the county’s Sharpe’s Hill fire station responded and were advised that someone might be trapped while they were enroute. They immediately called for additional help before arriving on scene.
An ambulance from Lexington County EMS pulled up quickly, confirmed the entrapment, and requested a helicopter respond to transport one seriously injured patient. Firefighters from other stations also arrived, and those crews went to work extricating the trapped occupant. SC Hwy. 6 was closed between Jason and Bethel Roads while the crews worked. At one point, the sheriff’s department was requested because inpatient motorists were driving off the road and through a yard to bypass the wreck. This was putting the first responders at risk and was quickly stopped by law enforcement once they arrived.
A fire engine from Pelion responded to Edmund First Baptist Church to set up the landing zone for the Lifenet helicopter. Just after 11:30 a.m., the patient was freed and transported to the landing zone where he was loaded into the helicopter. It flew that person to Prisma Health’s Palmetto Richland’s Trauma Center. Other people involved in the wreck were transported by ground ambulance to another medical facility. The condition of the patients has not been released.
The second wreck was reported around 4:30 p.m. It was at the intersection of Augusta and Laurel Road near Oak Grove. A deputy arrived before the fire crews and confirmed someone was trapped. The crew chief of Engine 9 also requested additional help after hearing this. Once EMS and the fire service arrived on the scene, they reported that a passenger vehicle and a truck were involved.
Once again, firefighters used their extrication training to free the trapped victim. EMTs treated all the injured at the scene and the injured were transported by EMS for treatment at a local medical facility.
The SCHP is investigating both accidents. They have not released a cause for either at this time.
