Serious Crash Closes Route 44, Putnam, for Hours
Putnam, Conn. - One person was transported by LifeFlight, and another was hospitalized, after their pickup truck traveled down an embankment, striking a tree on Route 44 Saturday afternoon.
At approximately 1 p.m. the East Putnam Fire Department was dispatched for a reported vehicle accident, with a vehicle down an embankment and occupants entrapped in the area of 326 Providence Pike, Route 44.
According to East Putnam Fire Department’s Chief Abe Walker, when crews arrived they found a single vehicle with the driver out of the vehicle but the passenger heavily pinned from the waist down. The vehicle had left the roadway, went down an embankment, and struck a tree on the passenger side. While firefighters attended to the passenger, troopers were notified that the driver was located ~ 1/8 mile down the road.
With the vehicle on uneven ground, supported by a rotting tree, and heavy intrusion into the cab, extricating the patient was a complex process. Crews winched the vehicle approximately 1 foot off of the rotted tree to ensure the tree would not fall on them due to the weight of the vehicle. They then stabilized the front of the vehicle with a come-along ratchet secured to the guard rail and the rear of the vehicle to the back of Engine 479 with a winch. Firefighters then performed a dash roll to remove the vehicle dash from the lower half of the passenger. After approximately 25 minutes, including approximately 10 minutes to stabilize and secure the vehicle to make it safe to work around, crews extricated the patient.
During the extrication, Putnam EMS EMTs and a KB Ambulance QV Paramedic treated the passenger. With the ambulance and paramedic flight car staged at the top of the embankment, crews were able to shuttle medical supplies down to the vehicle and administer care as the fire department extricated.
When the patient was extricated, they were transported to Day Kimball Hospital’s helipad where a LifeFlight air medical helicopter was waiting. The helicopter was initially requested to a nearby landing zone but was diverted to Day Kimball Hospital’s helipad. Chief Walker explained the decision to divert the helicopter came after weighing the risks of the helicopter landing in a field against the condition of the patient. With the patient in serious but stable condition, crews felt it was safer to utilize the helipad at Day Kimball, bypassing the emergency room, only adding minimal time to the transport.
Route 44 was shut down for nearly two and a half hours as crews worked the accident.
The driver was later transported to Day Kimball Hospital for a non-traumatic medical emergency.
East Putnam firefighters train for complex extrications multiple times per quarter. While Engine 479 is not considered a Heavy Rescue unit, it carries all of the same equipment, with the exception of an air cascade to fill oxygen bottles. With this truck on the scene, firefighters have access to electric and hydraulic Tools (Jaws of Life, Cutters, Rams), hand tools, come-alongs, a winch, air bags, and numerous other specialized tools.
Agencies that responded, or were dispatched, included the East Putnam Fire Department, Putnam EMS, KB Ambulance’s QV Medic, UMass Memorial LifeFlight, and the Connecticut State Police.
