Veronica Duguay is recovering at CMMC in Lewiston.
PERU – One of two Med-Care Ambulance EMTs injured in Sunday night’s crash with a tractor-trailer on Route 108 during a snowstorm remains hospitalized.
Veronica Duguay, 43, of Livermore Falls, is recovering from non life-threatening injuries at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, said Med-Care Director Dean Milligan.
A CMMC nursing supervisor said Monday night that Duguay was listed in stable condition.
Duguay’s passenger, Paramedic Rhonda Chase, 51, of Rumford, who extricated herself from the wreckage that trapped Duguay, was transported to Rumford Hospital, where she was treated and released Sunday night, Milligan said.
Frank E. Wilson, 40, of Atlantic City, N.J., the driver of the tractor-trailer, which was loaded with paper products from MeadWestvaco’s Rumford mill, was not injured.
The crash occurred at 5:48 p.m. near the Worthley Pond Road intersection while Duguay and Chase were responding to a 5:39 p.m. cardiac arrest call in Rumford, Milligan said.
But just what happened that caused the wreck other than slick, snow-covered roads, and bad driving conditions, is still being investigated.
Witnesses interviewed by Oxford County police say the ambulance, which had its siren on and lights flashing, had passed one vehicle while heading uphill on Route 108, according to Capt. James P. Miclon.
The tractor-trailer was traveling in the opposite direction, descending the slight grade, and trying to slow down.
“We got a lot of calls from witnesses today who said the tractor-trailer was traveling between 20 and 25 mph and pulling as far as it could to the right while trying to stop,” Miclon said Monday afternoon.
Witnesses also said the ambulance was attempting to pass a second snow-covered vehicle when it struck the big rig’s trailer reportedly on the centerline, Miclon added.
But Milligan said otherwise.
“There is clearly conflicting reports from the parties involved including the driver of the truck, witnesses and my personnel that were involved in the accident as to exactly what happened,” he said Monday night.
Earlier Monday afternoon, Milligan, who interviewed both Duguay and Chase, said they told him that the tractor-trailer had jackknifed, was blocking both lanes, and that the ambulance was caught up against the guardrail with no place to go when the wreck occurred. They also said there was no second car.
Miclon said the big rig couldn’t have jackknifed, based on evidence at the scene.
“If it had jackknifed, the rig would have been in an “L” position and the trailer would have been atop the ambulance. But did it fishtail? We don’t know that yet,” Miclon added.
No wreck reconstructionist was available, so Miclon, Deputy Justin Brown and Sgt. Gary Hill had to reconstruct the crash themselves.
Miclon said the ambulance did not slide into the tractor-trailer as was reported in a Sun Journal story Monday.
Also, he clarified statements made in the same story that the ambulance was returning to Med-Care headquarters in Mexico with its siren and lights on.
Milligan concurred, saying Duguay and Chase had transported a Rumford Hospital patient to CMMC earlier in the afternoon and were returning to headquarters when they got the 5:39 p.m. call to back up another Med-Care ambulance crew responding to a cardiac arrest incident in Rumford. That’s why the ambulance’s siren was sounding and lights were flashing, both Miclon and Milligan added.
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