Wednesday afternoon was not like most weekday afternoons in Lakeland. A really bad traffic crash happened on Lake Hollingsworth Drive at Collins Avenue. Two cars collided head on, injuring four children (one critically) and two adults. All of the injured were transported to the hospital and the critically injured infant was airlifted to Tampa. We will hear accounts of this crash in news reports this evening as well as the local newspapers tomorrow morning.
What will be missing from these reports is an assessment of the public safety professionals who arrived on the scene and did what they do best - work quickly to save lives. I believe that story needs to be told here.
We were told via the police radio there were injuries at the crash scene and a small child was not breathing. That radio call will get any police officer's attention real quick. I happened to be driving in the general area and was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene minutes after the crash was dispatched over the radio. What I saw was impressive.
Lakeland Firefighter/Paramedics and EMTs were already on scene providing medical care to each individual victim including the small infant who was breathing once again by this time. Several Polk County EMS units quickly arrived and joined in the medical treatment of the victims. A firefighter comforted a grieving mother who watched the children being treated on the ground. Police officers arriving on the scene set up a security perimeter to allow more ambulances to get there pronto, preserved critical evidence at the scene, located witnesses, and worked with the LFD Battalion Chief and EMS to establish a secure landing zone for the incoming med-evac helicopter.
These professionals quickly turned chaos into an orderly triage and treatment process that gave each victim the best possible medical care at the scene. Victims were secured on back boards and placed in the many ambulances that were dispatched to the crash. It happened like a well-rehearsed scenario, but this was not training...it was for real.
I would be remiss if I did not give a word of thanks to the handful of citizens driving by who stopped to render aid. A lady who appeared to be a nurse or some type of medical professional was helping a Paramedic administer an IV, another woman as applying direct pressure to help control bleeding on one of the drivers while a firefighter held the victim's head still to prevent further neck injury. Lakeland citizens offered their best at this critical time - thank you to those whom I cannot name personally.
Long after the initial chaos is over and the victims have been transported from the scene, the traffic officers remained behind to begin their investigation. This is hot and tedious work in the heat of a Florida summer. They performed their tasks of taking measurements, photographing the scene, and getting witness statements with the utmost professionalism. Job well done folks!
As a closing note - as I was getting ready to post this to our blog late this afternoon, we got dispatched to another serious traffic crash on West Memorial Boulevard where another young child was critically injured and being prepared by EMS Paramedic to be flown to Tampa in a helicopter that had landed on the roadway.
Not a good day in Lakeland for public safety personnel. Our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.
-Asst Chief Bill LePere
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