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LBPD Injury Accident With Metro Blue Line
By frhayes | July 7, 2010
On Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at approximately 1:00 PM Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) units responded to a reported Injury Traffic Accident with a trapped victim at Long Beach Blvd. at East 16th Street. Engine 3 was the first arriving unit and found a Metrolink Train that collided with a Long Beach Police Department squad. The train had pushed the vehicle approximately 75 feet with the officer still trapped inside before it was able to completely stop. A full assignment that included The LBFD USAR Team was then dispatched. Truck 7 was quickly utilized to perform vehicle extrication techniques using the “Jaws of Life”, to safely remove the injured officer from the wreckage. Luckily there were no other passengers inside the police unit. Throughout the rescue efforts the officer was talking to the fire crews. His condition and injuries were listed as moderate at the time. He was then quickly transported to a local trauma center based on the mechanism of injury.
During the course of the extrication fire crews also found that an additional ten patients required medical attention due to minor injuries including neck and back pain. At that point Engine 6’s Captain declared the incident as a Multi Casualty Incident (MCI) based on the amount of patients involved. Those ten patients were then placed on backboards with cervical collars for precautionary measures and transported to local hospitals.
Had it not been for the quick efforts of fire personnel, this officer’s condition could have rapidly changed for the worse.
This incident occurred in council district 7 with a total of 16 apparatus and 34 personnel operating on scene for approximately 2 hours. The cause of the collision is currently under investigation.
Topics: Incidents | 43 Comments »
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