Monday, January 21, 2013

** Manitoba paramedic killed in snowmobile crash

** Preliminary Iowa air ambulance crash report cites ice as potential accident cause

CANADA NEWS

** Manitoba paramedics are mourning the loss of one of their own after Ashern practitioner Chris Arns, 33, died Thursday in a Moosehorn area snowmobile accident. The Winnipeg Free Press (Alexandra Paul/January 18) said the 1:30 a.m. crash, which Arns initially survived, also injured a second man. According to the newspaper, both men managed to walk to the highway to greet paramedics sent to aid them. Arns then collapsed and was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death is pending autopsy results. Interlake-Eastern RHA CEO John Stinson said Arns’ death is a great loss. Remembered as a passionate and dedicated paramedic, he leaves behind a wife and two small children. Funeral services are pending.

UNITED STATES NEWS

** A preliminary investigation into the crash of an Iowa air ambulance earlier this month has found ice may be the culprit that brought the chopper down. That is the word from the Des Moines Register (Daniel Finney/January 18) which said the January 2nd mishap occurred during windy conditions where a slight mist was present. According to the newspaper, several crash witnesses have indicated their vehicles were coated with a thin sheet of ice at the time of the 9 p.m. accident. A Mason City pilot also verified this fact, saying he told National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators that during his own 6:30 p.m. flight he had dealt with some frost. Upon leaving the airport post shift, he said the roads were icy. Although a more detailed report on the accident is expected in about a month, the definitive tome will not likely be available until about June 2014. Killed in the crash was pilot Gene Grell, flight paramedic Russell Piehl, and flight nurse Shelly Lair-Lagenbau. The chopper was bound for Emmetsburg when the trouble started;no patients were onboard.