Initial report: June 19 at 10:34 EDT
Updated: June 19 at 19:34 EDT

Two killed in ambulance accident on WK Parkway

By JOHN HULTGREN
Kentucky EMS Connection

A Crittenden County EMS ambulance lies off the road at the site of the crash.

The interior of the ambulance, viewed through the side compartment door, was demolished. Photos by Tommy Cash, Ohio County EMS

HARTFORD — An ambulance accident on the Western Kentucky Parkway in Ohio County, which backed up traffic and lead to a second accident, has claimed two lives and left an EMT in guarded condition at University of Louisville Hospital.

Crittenden County EMS was transporting a ventilator dependent child to a Louisville Hospital Tuesday morning, according to Jim Duke, Administrator for Ohio County EMS. The child was attended by a Crittenden County EMT and the patient's mother and father, both of whom are the patient's trained ventilator technicians, Duke said.

According to WLEX-TV the ambulance ran off the Western Kentucky Parkway and struck a tree, flipping over. Police say they don't know yet what caused the ambulance to crash, which happened at about 6:42 a.m.

Killed in the crash was the patient's mother, Denise Tinsley, 35, of Marion. 

Injured in the crash was the EMT that was in the rear compartment attending to the patient, Margretta Travis. Travis was flown by Louisville Medical Center STATCARE to University of Louisville Hospital and is reportedly in guarded condition with a lacerated liver, bruised kidney, fractured jaw and fractured lumbar spine.

Also injured was the patient, Wesley C. Tinsley, 4; the patient's father, and Sharon W. Frazer, the Crittenden County EMT who was driving the ambulance. All three were transported by Ohio County EMS to Ohio County Hospital with minor injuries, Duke said. Frazer is also a registered nurse. 

WLEX-TV reported that about 45 minutes after the initial accident, as traffic was backing up, a chain-reaction collision occurred in the east-bound lanes. Sixty-one-year-old Francis Schmacher of Sikeston, Missouri struck the rear of an SUV in front of her and was killed.

Duke said that three others were injured in the second crash.

Brian Bishop, executive director of the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services, reports that regional advisor/inspector Sharon Pierceall is working with both Crittenden and Ohio counties to see if the state Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team is needed.

Crittenden County EMS is based in Marion, Kentucky.

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