Monday 24th October 2016 – 12.30pm – Murray MacGregor.
“The potential for there to have been multiple fatalities was enormous.” That’s the view of ambulance staff who were called to a serious road traffic collision on the A46 on Saturday evening.
It happened at about 6.50pm on the Coventry Eastern Bypass, north of the TGI roundabout.
Two ambulances, a paramedic area support officer and the MERIT Trauma Doctor were sent to the scene.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “When crews arrived they found a commercial van that had been pulling a trailer had collided with the back of a flatbed recovery vehicle that had stopped to pick up a car. There was significant impact and intrusion on the passenger side of the van.
“The driver of the flatbed had just left the rear of the vehicle seconds before the collision.
“The trailer separated from the van and ended up against the central reservation. The van itself suffered huge front end damage against the flatbed.
“There were two people in the van, a seven year old boy in the front passenger seat and the driver was a 50 year old man.
“On arrival, the man was out of the vehicle but the boy was trapped by his right leg. Due to damage, crews had to enter the van via the rear doors.
“Thankfully the van didn’t have a solid bulkhead and they were able to get to the boy easily. Ambulance staff initially stabilised the child and then worked with firefighters to cut him free. In total, he was trapped for about 45 minutes.
“After being assessed by the doctor, he was taken on blue lights to the paediatric major trauma centre at Birmingham Children’s Hospital with a badly broken left leg.
“The driver was taken to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire with relatively minor injuries to his head and legs.
“Considering the damage, the fact that the youngster was not far more seriously hurt, or worse, is astonishing.
“The driver of the flatbed recovery truck was uninjured but badly shaken at the thought of what might have happened. He didn’t require any treatment.
“This was an excellent example of teamwork between the three emergency services.”
Ends
