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Wis. paramedic describes scene of fatal 131-car pileup

Katie Stuczynksi said the pileup, which left one dead and 71 injured, was the biggest scene she and her colleagues had ever responded to

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By EMS1 Staff

WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Wis. — A paramedic recalled responding to a fatal pileup involving 131 cars.

Gold Gross Ambulance Paramedic Supervisor Katie Stuczynski told CBS58 the scene was “chaos” when she and her colleagues responded to the pileup, which left one person dead and 71 injured.

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“Just thought there’s no way, this is just chaos. At that point I knew it was something bigger than we’ve ever been to,” Stucysnki, a 10-year paramedic veteran, said.

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Stucysnki added that “every person who responded and came to that scene stepped up.”

“Without the first people in there, without the fire department, the police department, bystanders, none of this would have went the way it did that day. I think it would have turned out a lot differently,” she said.

Expert Automotive Services co-owner Adam Pugh helped coordinate the moving of vehicles from the scene.

“The primary objective was to move cars out to access patients for extrication,” he said. “There were roofs coming off cars, doors getting cut off, firefighters standing on top of cars moving patients over vehicles to get the out of vehicles.”

Pugh echoed Stucysnki’s statement and said “everyone worked really well together for as big of an incident as it was.”