NFD ambulance hits deer during patient transport
By Everett Brazil, III
The Newkirk Herald Journal
NEWKIRK — One Newkirk Fire/EMS ambulance received front-end damage Saturday morning while transporting a patient to the Winfield hospital.
The accident occurred at 232nd Road north of Arkansas City.
“At approximately 4:30 in the morning the ambulance struck a deer just north of Arkansas City,” said Fire Chief Adam Longcrier. “The patient was still with us.”
The ambulance received damage to the front passenger side of the vehicle, including the headlight and bumper.
Longcrier reported that no crew members were injured, and the patient was also unharmed by the accident.
First responders called an Arkansas City ambulance to finish the transportation of the patient.
“We ended up calling an ambulance from Arkansas City, and they took our patient all the way to Winfield,” he said. “I just appreciate Arkansas City for giving us a hand.”
Longcrier said it was one of the first such accidents during his tenure with NFD, especially having driven from Wichita to Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
“We’re really lucky. I’ve been doing this in Newkirk about 20 years, and this is only the second time we’ve hit a deer,” he said. “The ambulance is insured, and the Cowley County sheriff found us not at fault. We were driving safely, and the animal walked out in front of us.”
An air ambulance helicopter was called to the Newkirk High School football field Monday morning, May 1 to transport a victim to a Wichita hospital. The patient was found unconscious in the alley in the 200 block of South Walnut.
“We found a patient unresponsive, and their condition was deteriorating, so we were able to get her in the back of the ambulance and start an IV,” he said. “We were able to bring her back around, but her condition stayed about the same, so we requested a helicopter out of Stillwater. She was treated in Wichita.”
