Accident tests disaster mode of emergency crews

Two serious injury motor vehicle crashes occurred near Libby over the past week.

The more catastrophic crash occurred at 1 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22 at the intersection of Lower Granite Creek Road and Granite Creek Road. This crash involved one vehicle with 10 unrestrained juvenile occupants which was heading back to town from the Granite Creek area.

The accident was the "single most test of disaster skills that the ambulance crew has experienced," according to Libby Volunteer Ambulance Secretary Penny Kyes.

The vehicle, a 1979 Ford Bronco driven by Lucas Lampton, 19, from Libby, was traveling east on Lower Granite Creek Road. Lampton drove straight through the intersection of Granite Creek Road and struck a large tree on the east side of the roadway head-on at approximately 45 mph. Injured in the crash were Krista Byington, 16; Maura Rucker, 17; Amber Carvey, 17; Derek McKinzie, 18; Jonathan Doyle, 17; Kortney Fitzgerald, 16; Myron Rowe, 17; Charles Drury, 19; and Katie Zimmer, 17. All occupants were from Libby. Speed, alcohol and lack of seatbelts were all factors in this crash and charges are pending. The incident was investigated by Sgt. Bowers.

"All the patients tested us hard, but we handled it," Kyes said. "Everyone did really well and the most amazing thing is that no one died."

Of the 22-25 emergency responders that volunteer for the ambulance service, approximately 14 of them were on scene, Kyes added. An emergency response member from Troy also responded to the accident.

"We had five ambulances within 10 minutes and that is very, very good response time," she said.

All subjects were taken by six ground ambulances to St. John's Lutheran Hospital Emergency Room where they were treated by the ER doctors and staff, many of whom were called in from their homes in the middle of the night to deal with this large scale emergency. The job that all of the local emergency services personnel did, both paid and volunteer, was exceptional, Bowers stated in a press release.

"It's too bad they were not buckled and it was really lucky no one died," Kyes added.

Dr. Shane Hill was the attending doctor during the accident and he immediately called for other doctors to respond and help. Dr. Jay Maloney went to the scene of the accident to triage passengers and "semi stabilize them in the field," according to Dr. Dean Nelson, who responded to the hospital early Saturday morning. Drs. Rice, Nelson, Ercanbrack and Mahoney also responded to the hospital to assist with the influx of patients. Several nurses and X-ray technicians also responded to the hospital, Nelson said.

"We had enough emergency staff on board, we were just bottlenecked trying to get everyone into X-ray," Nelson added.

Injuries ran the gamut following the crash, including a partial scalping of one passenger. The skin and hair of one crash victim was pulled from the victim's forehead back to the crown of her head,

There was also one victim that suffered brain swelling and serious bruising to the lungs. That patient was sent to the hospital in Kalispell. Herniated discs in one patients neck and lacerations, bumps and bruises were also common. Most of the patients were discharged and sent home, Nelson said.

Staff at St. John's Lutheran Hospital do disaster drills about once a year, Nelson explained. The emergency staff will debrief Saturday's incident and learn from the experience, he said.

"It probably went as well as it could go," Nelson said about Saturday's accident. "There is definitely a take-home message here. The travesty of alcohol in this community, it's not whether or not it will happen, but when it will happen.

"There was lots of impact in this crash, the kids in the back seat were thrown forward enough to go through the windshield. They were very lucky, I hope it serves as a wakeup call to our community," Nelson continued.

Nelson had nothing but praise for the emergency crews who responded.

"It's amazing for such a small community," he said.

The first crash last week occurred at 10:53 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18 on Pipe Creek Road near milepost 1. Melvin Hoff, 72, from Libby was driving a 2002 Dodge pick-up truck pulling a tandem axle utility trailer southbound on Pipe Creek Road.

Near milepost 1, his vehicle crossed the opposite lane of traffic where it nearly struck an oncoming vehicle, and entered the woods on the east side of the road where it struck two trees head-on at approximately 45 mph. There was no evidence of braking or evasive maneuvers prior to striking the trees and it appears Hoff may have suffered a medical emergency while driving. Hoff was transported by ambulance to St. John's Lutheran Hospital. Seatbelts were used and alcohol was not a factor in this crash. The crash was investigated by Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Duane Bowers.

"We are very fortunate to have such a good group of dedicated individuals in our community," Bowers said.