Tennessee - An AMR employee was hospitalized Tuesday after a driver collided with the ambulance she was driving.
Advanced Emergency Medical Technician Meredith Graham, 36, was taken to Blount Memorial Hospital after a 12:30 p.m. accident in which a car sideswiped the emergency response vehicle as both traveled south on Sevierville Road near Doc Norton Road.
Blount County Sheriff’s deputies dealt with the accident because Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers were not available at the time, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Marian O’Briant emailed.
The ambulance was carrying four people, including three AMR employees and a 71-year-old woman who was being rushed to BMH for an undisclosed condition.
Two AMR employees in the back of the 2017 Ford ambulance — Phillip Lamar and Brian Lawson — were uninjured. The 71-year-old patient did not sustain injuries related to the collision, O’Briant said.
Kathie Louise Henthorne, Jacob Road, Walland, was driving the car that ran into the ambulance. O’Briant said Henthorne turned left into the AMR vehicle on Sevierville Road, but both stayed on the roadway.
Henthorne and a passenger in her car were not injured. Both were wearing seat belts and airbags in the car did not deploy.
Graham, the ambulance driver, also was wearing a seat belt and was treated and released by Tuesday evening.
No medical information was available on the 71-year-old patient.
AMR East Tennessee Operations Manager Jonathan Rodgers said in a phone interview that the ambulance will be taken to Bradley’s Towing and Recovery for repairs, as are all AMR vehicles that service Blount County.
O’Briant encouraged Blount motorists to be aware of their surroundings when they see or hear a vehicle in an emergency run, she emailed.
“If you hear an emergency vehicle approaching, look to see where it is on the road and how fast it is approaching so you can determine what to do next,” she wrote. “Pull over to the side of the road safely and wait for the emergency vehicle to pass. Always look for other emergency vehicles! Pull back onto the roadway after you are sure it is clear to do so.”
O’Briant emphasized drivers should never follow an emergency vehicle, try to pass it or pull over where there isn’t room to do so safely.
“Stay at least 500 feet behind a moving emergency vehicle that has its lights and sirens going,” she added.
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