EMS director Larry Granstaff says employees have met with counselors during the last week as they dealt with the death of Denise Tinsley and the injuries of two EMS employees in an ambulance wreck in Ohio County. Tinsley, 35, died in the accident, which occurred when the ambulance was transporting her, her husband Pat, and their four-year-old son to Louisville where the boy was to have a cast removed.

"Everyone has been very emotional," Granstaff said. "Now we're trying to get everybody in the right emotional state, encouraging them to keep their heads up and wear their EMS letters with pride."

Margretta Travis, who worked more than 20 years with Crittenden EMS, was released from the University of Louisville hospital Monday. Her liver and kidney were damaged when a tree limb went through the oxygen door of the ambulance during the accident. Granstaff said Travis was very emotional and very nervous riding home in the ambulance Monday from Louisville. He is unsure whether she will return as an EMS employee, but expects that she will make a full physical recovery.

Sherry Frazer, the ambulance driver, was treated and released from Ohio County Hospital the day of the accident. She told police and relatives that she thinks something was wrong with the steering because she kept turning the wheel and nothing was happening. Granstaff said Frazer and Travis had offered to take the Tinsleys to Louisville June 19. The two employees picked the Tinsleys up a little before 5 a.m., as employees had done many times before.

Granstaff said it is common for family members, especially Denise Tinsley, to ride in the back of the ambulance on transports.

"We evaluate it on a case-by-case basis, but (the Tinsleys) have traveled with us for three or four years, and they, as far as we are concerned, are part of the EMS family," Granstaff said.

"Denise was the most qualified person to take care of Caleb," Granstaff continued. "She and Pat were both ventilator certified, so they could have made the trip by themselves using our equipment."

Granstaff said the change in insurance coverage and rising costs to transport Caleb personally to Louisville for treatments and checkups prompted the family to begin using Crittenden ambulances.

"Denise was in the back with Caleb as she always was... we honored her right as the child's mother to take care of the child."

Investigation into the cause of the fatal accident continues. Kentucky State Police Detective Richard Abrahamson reports that the undercarriage and steering of the ambulance has been checked by a Beaver Dam mechanic. No defects have been found, Abrahamson said. He also said the wreck was not caused by a tire blowout.

"We're still in the middle of the investigation," he said. "When there is a fatality like this, there is a checklist we go through to make sure certain things were not a factor."

Granstaff said no previous problem with the ambulance's steering had been reported prior to the accident. All maintenance records now have been turned over to the state police.

In the meantime, EMS employees are dealing with their emotions on the job on a day-by-day basis.

"Two or three people had volunteered for the transport, so a lot of employees are blaming themselves," Granstaff said. Some employees may participate in further individual counseling following Tuesday's final group session.

Since last Thursday, the hospital has been using an ambulance on loan from Marshall County. Equipment, such as splints, blood pressure cuffs and other equipment not damaged in the accident was used to help outfit the Marshall County ambulance over the weekend. The ambulance is on loan indefinitely.

The EMS has applied for a Kentucky Board of Emergency Services grant to help replace the ambulance lost in the accident. Granstaff hopes that the Crittenden Fiscal Court will help cover the remaining cost of buying a new ambulance.

Prior to last week's accident, the EMS had ordered a new $80,000 ambulance. It was to be paid for with state, EMS and hospital funding.

The Crittenden Fiscal Court holds title to the county's ambulances. EMS staff members are Crittenden Hospital employees. Vehicle insurance and a large portion of EMS operating expenses are covered by the hospital.

Last week's wreck was the first with a fatality or major injury in well over a million miles of transports by the Crittenden EMS, Granstaff said.