Shortly after 7:30 on Sunday evening, Cherokee County, Alabama Central Dispatch received a request for help from an individual who appeared to be in distress – however, dispatchers were only provided with Highway 411 as a possible location.
They immediately tapped resources from the McCord’s, Spring Creek, Centre, and Leesburg Fire Departments along with law enforcement officers, EMA officials, and Rescue Squad members from across the county to search for the victim. U.S. Highway 411 near County Road 45 in the Hardin School community was later identified as the location.
Upon arrival, emergency personnel found one patient, suffering from severe injuries, who had been transported there by ATV from an accident scene two to three miles away on Frog Mountain off County Road 45. Information at that point was sketchy; however it was determined that there was possibly one to three additional victims involved in the ATV accident and that other riders were attempting to extricate them.
McCord’s Fire Chief Rich Lindsey advised Cherokee County Central Dispatch of the possible mass casualty incident and diverted all additional resources to that area for a search and rescue operation. While en-route to the area, units encountered two ATVs carrying two additional victims, one of which was seriously injured.
Both patients were treated on scene by firefighters and rescue squad personnel. One was then transported to Floyd/Cherokee Medical Center by Floyd EMS and then air-lifted to a regional trauma center. The other patient was transported to an area trauma center by Redmond EMS.
Comments