2 medics, patient killed in ambulance crash in U.S. state of Georgia

USPA News - Two paramedics and their patient were killed Thursday when an ambulance with its lights and sirens on collided with a tractor-trailer on a highway in the U.S. state of Georgia, officials said on Friday, adding that criminal charges against the truck driver are likely. The accident happened at around 5 a.m. local time on Thursday when a car and a tractor-trailer were traveling westbound on Georgia State Route 32 near the small town of Ocilla in Irwin County, some 190 miles (305 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.

An ambulance from neighboring Coffee County was traveling eastbound with its lights and siren activated. Franka Young, a spokeswoman for the Georgia State Patrol, said the car had pulled off the roadway to yield for the approaching ambulance, but the truck ended up colliding with the emergency vehicle. "The tractor-trailer jackknifed across the centerline and into the path of the ambulance," she said. The ambulance struck the left side of the tractor and trailer, killing the two emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and their patient who was being transferred from Coffee Regional Medical Center in Coffee County to Tift Regional Medical Center in Tift County. The truck driver was not injured. Young identified the driver of the ambulance as 44-year-old Teresa Ann Davis of Axson and the second EMT as 56-year-old Randall Whiddon of Ashburn. The patient in the ambulance was identified as 65-year-old Charles Arvin Smith of Fitzgerald, but the nature of his injuries or illness prior to the accident were not released. The Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) of the Georgia State Patrol is investigating the accident, and Young said charges against the truck driver were pending. She identified the driver of the truck as Rockwell Lott of Tifton.