Animal control officer injured in accident
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
An Emporia animal control officer had to be extricated from the animal control truck she was driving Tuesday afternoon following a collision with a dump truck at Sixth Avenue and Prairie Street in front of the BP service station.
Amanda Collins, 21, was driving her animal control truck west on Sixth Avenue when she drove through a red light and was hit by truck driven south on Prairie Street by 48-year-old Frankline Burch of Emporia. The accident happened just after 1 p.m., according to the Kansas Highway Patrol report.
Rescue crews had to peel the truck apart to free Collins, who was taken by ambulance to Newman Regional Health where she was treated and released.
The KHP is handling the case because the vehicle involved belongs to the city, according to Deputy Police Chief Mike Williams. According to the report, Collins was wearing a seat belt; Burch was not.
GOODONE (anonymous) says...
I was at the accident scene yesterday and was AMAZED at how long it took Rescue to extract the girl that was driving the animal control truck. There were many of us that wondered if someone was in the truck because the rescue crew was sooooooo slow. I feel for the poor girl that was trapped in there, she had to be freaking out!
March 5, 2008 at 3:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wanderer (anonymous) says...
It takes a while for most fire departments. I did some checking around -- with hydraulic tools, it usually takes about 15-20 minutes to extract someone. Without those tools, it can take about an hour.
Obviously, I'm not a professional myself. If Chief Taylor or anyone on the Emporia Fire Department wants to weigh in, they're more than welcome.
March 5, 2008 at 4 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
elj733 (anonymous) says...
It does take a while to extricate someone from a vehicle. They do not want to cause anymore injuries to that person.
March 5, 2008 at 5:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slh (anonymous) says...
Regardless of how long it took, we should all be thankful that she's still alive. Good job to the officers who worked the wreck. Kudos to you for getting her out of the truck safely!
March 5, 2008 at 11:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
There is alot more to extracting someone from a vehicle than just cutting into it. The vehicle needs to be stablized. Hazards need to be mitigated. We do no one any good if we injure them worse or a firefighter gets hurt trying to get them out. Its easy to armchair quarterback when you know nothing about the subject isn't it.
March 5, 2008 at 11:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nutsaboutools (anonymous) says...
Sounds to me like the rescue crew did one helluva great job. Collins was released from the hospital the same day and no one else was injured. Like many of the posters here have said, you don't just reach in and pull them out. Great job guys! :) Also note that Collins was wearing her seat belt. . . . Seat belts do save lives.
March 6, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dizzyup (anonymous) says...
"Seat belts do save lives" Yes, indeed.
Not running red lights saves lives too.....
"when she drove through a red light and was hit by truck"
Glad she was okay, but it's a nice reminder to EVERYONE not to run red lights, yeash.
March 6, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )