PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA: A Florida man has died after 'exiting' from a moving ambulance on Interstate 95. A paramedic who tried to prevent him from exiting the vehicle also fell down and suffered life-threatening injuries.
As per WPTV, the incident took place on Tuesday, August 15, when the 70-year-old man tried to exit the ambulance.
What happened to the Florida man?
The deceased, who was being carried in the ambulance, exited the vehicle and fell onto Interstate 95. The Florida Highway Patrol said that after he fell down, he was run over by several cars including a 2023 Kia sedan and a 2020 Volvo tractor.
The news outlet further revealed that the incident took place just before 9 pm on Tuesday at the southbound flank of Interstate-95 near Midway Road in Port St Lucie.
Per TCPalm.com, the ambulance was driven by a 38-year-old woman from Orange County. She stopped the ambulance on the outside shoulder of the southbound I-95.
What are the authorities saying about the I-95 accident?
Lt Indiana Miranda said the deceased was a resident of Jacksonville who “exited the rear of the ambulance and fell onto the roadway.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lt Miranda further added that there was a 29-year-old paramedic who tried to stop the patient from exiting the vehicle. He “also fell onto the roadway,” said the police.
It is reported that the paramedic underwent injuries which can be life-threatening. He was then transported to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, where he is undergoing treatment.
“To hear something like that happening, it was very startling to me,” said Port St Lucie resident Dawn Freeman to WPTV.
The identities of the deceased Florida man, the paramedic and the ambulance driver have not been released yet. An investigation is goin on. A fire district spokesperson for St Lucie County Fire District said that the ambulance did not belong to them. It was also reported that the ambulance’s destination was not known.
Accident involving an ambulance
In late June 2023, two people lost their lives in a tri-vehicle crash in Louisiana while a patient was being transported to the hospital; the three-vehicle crash claimed the lives of two and injured a paramedic.
As per Louisiana State Police, the two deceased identified in the Pointe Coupee Parish crash were Kymber Nezat, 28, and Albert Bordelon, 82.
Nezat, the driver of the ambulance, was on Louisiana Highway 1 behind a Nissan Altima when Nezat rear-ended the Altima making the ambulance enter the southbound lane. It was then hit by a Kenworth tractor trailer head-on, per USA Today.
Louisiana State Police said, “Despite being properly restrained, both Nezat and Bordelon (who was being transported) succumbed to their injuries at the scene.”
They added, “A second rear passenger of the Sprinter was transported to a local hospital with severe injuries from the crash.”