By Laura French
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — An EMT and paramedic with Hall Ambulance Service in California are being lauded for their actions after their ambulance was struck by a vehicle on Saturday.
Hall Ambulance EMT Chelsey Hepp and Paramedic Kevin McClanahan were transporting a patient Saturday night when another vehicle, traveling at a high rate of speed, ran a red light and struck their rig’s front driver’s side, according to the ambulance service. On-board cameras, one forward-facing and one facing inside the cab, captured the moment of impact.
In the moments after the collision, McClanahan, who was in the back of the ambulance, checked on the patient and continued to provide care until another unit could arrive to reinitiate transport. Hepp, who had been driving, heard people knocking on the driver’s-side ambulance window shouting that someone needed help. Despite being shaken by the collision, Hepp exited the ambulance began to provide medical aid to the other injured person.
The patient remained restrained on their stretcher and experienced no change from their original condition after the crash; two additional Hall Ambulance units soon arrived to transport the patient and the injured passenger from the other vehicle to the hospital. A Hall Ambulance paramedic field supervisor, the Bakersfield Police Department and the Bakersfield Fire Department also responded to the scene.
McClanahan, who has been with Hall Ambulance for 15 years, and Hepp, who recently celebrated her fifth-year anniversary working at the agency, were not seriously injured in the crash. Hall Ambulance officials said the on-board cameras, as well as Zoll Road Safety devices that monitor data such as speed, braking and turn signals, were implemented in all of the service’s ambulances in 2020 as part of a fleet safety upgrade. Hall Ambulance released photographs and video footage from the crash in order to educate the public about remaining attentive on roadways.
“Regardless of what is going on, it is never a safe option to disobey traffic laws, for everyone else’s safety and your own,” Hepp said in a statement.
Watch the videos provided by Hall Ambulance Service below:
Cab view of crash
https://media.cdn.lexipol.com/custom-images/Cab%20View%20Time%20of%20Crash%20174805.mp4
Forward view of crash
https://media.cdn.lexipol.com/custom-images/Forward%20View%20Time%20of%20Crash%20174805.mp4