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8, No. 51 Tuesday, December8,3,2011 2013 Vol.Vol. 7, No. 2, Tuesday, November
Major accident causes twenty vehicle pileup
Sunday was a busy and stressful day for firefighters and emergency personell in and around Lamont County with the major collision on highway 16, that involved approximately 20 vehicles. Submitted At approximately 1:25 P.M. (13:25) Sunday December 01, 2013 Chipman Fire was called out to a multi-vehicle incident on highway 16 and Range Road 185. The incident involved some 20 vehicles. The conditions were poor as the roads were very icy
and visibility was limited by fog. The Chipman Fire Chief placed a call to Strathcona dispatch to initiate mutual aid response from Mundare and Lamont as well as the Regional Chief. Crews responded quickly and many hours of training with one another was very evident as all departments
were mingled throughout the mangled vehicles extricating trapped patients. There were approximately 21 ambulatory people with a variety of less serious injuries but disoriented by the magnitude of the scene. With many of these people from out of Province or far from home, and now
with no transportation, two busses were called, one local from the Hrehorets Bus Line and the other, the EMS multi victim bus, from Edmonton. The Edmonton bus suffered mechanical problems and was unable to respond. A call to the Deputy Chief in Chipman was placed to open up the community hall in Chipman, some 9 miles to the north of the incident. A triage centre was set up and two local nurses as well as Prairie Emergency Medical Services personnel manned the triage centre to assess injuries and arrange transportation. Food was brought in and volunteers from the County, Lamont and Chipman area came to assist with everything from comforting people to arranging transporta-
tion to hotels or home, as well as car rentals. The bus transported these people to the community hall then onto Lamont for some that wanted to stay at the hotel. Once again as a community we have come together to help those who were only passing through, and may have not even been aware of the county or the amazing individuals who reside here. But they will remember the sacrifice of those responders on the highway that miserable day in December, and the warm hospitality of our residents. Chipman Fire Chief Steve Rasmussen called Village Councillor and Deputy Chief Mike Siepert between 3 and 3:30 p.m. and with the help of village staff, the Chief Administrative
Officer, fire brigade members and their pastor, as well as other volunteers who were able to get an emergency operations centre operational in under an hour. Rasmussen said there were three registered nurses who volunteered at the centre where there were three triage stations. Emergency medical personnel were on site as well. Pizza, soup, baked goods and stuffed animals were also made available at the emergency operations centre. A total of 25 patients were transferred to medical facilities by ambulance, and seven more transported by bus to the hospital in Lamont. Four people were seriously injured, but there were no reported fatalities.