September 22, 2003

PRESS RELEASE
To: Newsroom
For Immediate Release
Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Asst. to the Fire Chief
Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2411, page: 675-2137

City Bus Accident Sends 17 to Hospital - Two in Serious Condition

Passenger ejected while racing toward steering wheel as bus veers out of control/Fire Department implements Mass Casualty Plan

A Shreveport City bus carrying 16 passengers and on its way to the VA Medical Center from Shreve City veered off the road this afternoon and crashed head-first into a steel and concrete electric support pole. The driver was reported by passengers to have suffered from some sort of loss-of-consciousness just prior to the accident. As the bus struck the pole, a lone passenger, Kevin Merritt, was ejected out the front glass as he reportedly raced to try and grab the wheel. When firefighters and paramedics arrived on scene, they began treating Merritt and driver of the bus, Arthur Young, who was slouching in the bus’ stairwell. Young was listed in serious to critical condition, while Merritt was in serious condition upon transport to LSU Health Science Center (LSUHSC) by fire department paramedics.

Fifteen other passengers on the bus would be treated for assorted degrees of what were classified as minor to moderate injuries. All were transported to various area hospitals for evaluation. When the fire department first arrived, they quickly realizing the magnitude of the situation and implemented their Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) plan, whereas a deluge of resources and manpower are sent to the scene of an emergency to ensure that all requirements for emergency care are met. In all, more than a dozen pieces of equipment and some 30 firefighters responded to the incident.

As part of the MCI plan, hospitals are also contacted in advance of transportation and made aware of the incident. They are then asked how many patients they can care for from the incident. Using this information fire department officials divide the patients up so that one hospital is not inundated with a large number of patients. In this afternoon’s incident the following is a breakdown of hospitals that received patients from wreck:

• LSUHSC - 5 total patients
• Willis Knighton Medical Center (WKMC)- 2 patients
• Christus Schumpert Medical Center- 3 patients
• Highland Medical Center - 1 patient
• WKMC-South - 4 patients
• VA Medical Center - 2 patients

###