UPDATE: Officials have confirmed one EMT has died following the crash. He has been identified as 24-year-old Timothy McCormick. A second EMT is listed in critical condition at Wishard.
McCormick’s was Indy EMS’ first line of duty death and will be treated just like a firefighter or police death.
Officials say that both EMTs were wearing their seat belts. The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing. The driver of the other car, a 21-year-old woman, is being interviewed. No charges have yet been filed.
———
Two Indianapolis paramedics were rushed to the hospital, after their ambulance was hit by a car at the intersection of Senate and St. Clair St.
The accident happened just after 3:30 Saturday morning. A witness described it to Fox 59 as an “explosion,” the impact was so hard. The ambulance flipped on its side, slid a half block and smashed into parked cars.
Investigators spent several hours at the scene. Police indicated that the car had come through the light at St. Clair St. and hit the ambulance as it traveled south on Senate. That light was flashing red on St. Clair and investigators were looking into whether or not the driver tried to stop.
Both paramedics had to be extricated from the ambulance. They were transported to Wishard Hospital in critical condition. Emergency personnel on the scene described it as a very difficult situation, given that the victims were EMT’s and known to many in the public safety community.
The driver of the SUV was conscious and taken to Wishard for a blood draw. An initial police report indicated that an officer on the scene described smelling alcohol on the breath of the 21-year-old female driver. FACT, the Marion Co. Fatal Alcohol Crash Team, was on scene investigating alcohol as a potential factor.
A news conference is scheduled for Noon, when Indianapolis EMS will provide updated information on the crash.
