The Canadian Press(CP)
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EDMONTON — An Edmonton ambulance racing to a call has collided with a car at a busy intersection, killing a 45-year-old woman.
Emergency medical services chief Steve Rapanos said staff are very shaken, since they’re trained as caregivers.
Police traffic investigators are now looking into the collision, which happened Friday and killed Edmontonian Lois Marquis.
A spokesman for the medical examiner’s office said Marquis died of blunt chest trauma.
Rapanos offered condolences to Marquis’ family, who declined comment Saturday.
The city’s fleet safety department is doing its own investigation, he added.
With its lights and sirens activated, the ambulance was headed to help a fallen and unconscious cyclist when it collided with the vehicle, he said.
The call had been deemed a high priority.
Two paramedics and a student on a ride-along, who suffered minor injuries, immediately treated Marquis and called for a second ambulance at the scene, said Rapanos.
A third ambulance was sent to help the bicyclist.
Marquis was taken to hospital, where she died.
Rapanos said the paramedic driving the ambulance is a veteran who has at least five years’ experience on the job. He and the crew involved have been given time off and access to counselling.
While Rapanos said he didn’t want to get into specifics surrounding the case, he said paramedics are trained to drive ambulances at the school where they receive their medical training and then are given an orientation about city driving.
Police couldn’t say whether the ambulance had a green or red light before the crash.