** Drugs and alcohol apparently not factors in fatal Nebraska ambulance crash
UNITED STATES NEWS
** Alcohol and drugs were apparently not factors in the ambulance/pickup truck crash that killed a Nebraska paramedic June 11th. WOWT (July 3) said blood tests done on truck driver William Whitlach, 24, during a post mortem came back negative for such intoxicating substances. According to the newspaper, Whitlach’s truck crossed the center line into the path of the ambulance on Highway 34 near Lincoln. Whitlach was killed upon impact. The driver of the ambulance, EMT Robert Hanes, 51, died later in hospital. A second EMT was treated and released, while Hanes’ EMT daughter Melissa, 30, sustained critical injuries as a result of the crash. Witness reports just prior to the collision indicated Whitlach was driving erratically (Kevin Cole/World-Herald/June 12).
** EMS responders in Pinellas County, Florida are mourning the loss of one of their own after EMT Thomas Oliver, 28, died from a brain aneurysm. Bay News 9 (Melissa Eichman/July 3) said Oliver, who was working towards his paramedic certification, died last Friday while at the gym. According to the news site, Oliver worked with Sunstar EMS. Friends and colleagues remembered him as a man with a contagious smile and a sense of charisma.