Two Newkirk medics are continuing their recovery this week after the ambulance they were in was involved in a multi-vehicle accident caused by a dust storm last Friday afternoon.
Tim Walker, 54, and Tabron Stanton, 20, were in a 2020 Ford Transit ambulance on Highway 11 as they returned from Blackwell Hospital. They entered a low-visibility dust storm caused by high winds near Highway 11 and W Street.
Already that day, the wind, fires and other ambulance calls had his department scrambling, Newkirk Fire Chief Adam Longcrier said.
“It was already nuts, and going out there (to the ambulance crash scene) knowing it’s your people, made it 10 times worse,” Longcrier said. “Until I laid eyes on them I was just full of fear.”
Walker, who was driving, sustained a broken arm and injuries to his leg and back. He is expected to have surgery. Stanton suffered a concussion and has little or no memory of the crash. Both will need time away from work to recover.
Longcrier said the ambulance wasn’t into the storm for long when it first struck, in a partial head-on collision, an oncoming van. A semi struck the medical vehicle from behind and that collision pushed the ambulance into a third vehicle.
That impact sent the ambulance into the ditch. The crash cut power to the vehicle’s radio, so the medics could not contact dispatch or be contacted by other emergency personnel.
“When we couldn’t get them on the radio,” Longcrier said. “I knew it was our guys.”
Dash cam video of the crash has been turned over to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Longcrier expects that video to be released publicly at some point.
Multiple injuries were reported, though the ambulance crew were said to have suffered the most significant injuries. The other two Newkirk ambulances responded to the scene as did one from Ponca City.
Area law enforcement were at the scene to provide traffic control. An insurance adjuster has visited and the ambulance should be replaced within a month or so.