First Responders Ditch Ambulance To Safely Rescue Patient on Icy Road, Push Gurney for Mile in Cold
After their ambulance crashed on an icy road, two Missouri firefighters braved dangerous conditions to rescue a bus driver.
Maryland Heights Firefighter Shaylor Taetz had just started his shift when he learned that a metro bus had spun out and crashed on an icy road in a St. Louis suburb.
As Taetz and his partner drove to the crash site, their ambulance hit slippery ice and crashed into a guardrail.
“We realized how icy the roads were because they were progressively getting worse as the morning went on,” Taetz told KSDK-TV.
The firefighters decided to abandon their vehicle and walked a short distance to reach the bus.
Although no passengers were on the bus, the driver was stranded on board.
Taetz and his partner helped the woman onto a gurney and made the decision to walk about a mile on the icy roads to SSM Health Depaul Hospital.
The slick roads presented a hazard, but drivers trying to make their way around the rescue crew proved to be just as — if not more — dangerous than the ice.
Still, the two men worked to make sure the woman’s safety and comfort were a priority.
Taetz said they covered the woman with blankets for protection and wrestled with the uncooperative gurney as it slid along the icy road.
The walk was slow and steady, but the improvised rescue worked.
“We just had to deal with it and kind of make do with that we had,” Taetz said.
A passerby, Carol Parks, took a photo of the firefighters pushing the gurney up a hill, literally going above and beyond to get the woman to safety.
KSDK reported that the woman was not hurt and is doing just fine.
The Maryland Heights Fire Protection District shared the photo on their Facebook page, thanking the crew for doing what needed to be done.
“When the ambulance couldn’t make it through the ice this morning, the crew of 4427 did what they needed to do to deliver their patient to the emergency room,” the district wrote.
Viewers are praising the two men as heroes, thanking them for keeping the community of St. Louis safe.
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