By Ruth Brown
The Bakersfield Californian
BAKERSFIELD, Calf. — The collision left the ambulance on its roof.
Paramedic Armando Lazaro, 33, and Kern County firefighter Adam Bickford, 32, were inside, also upside down, hanging by their seatbelts.
After their Hall Ambulance paramedic supervisor’s Suburban had stopped rolling, they were aware of broken glass and crumpled metal from three wrecked vehicles, and the sound of motorists along Highway 119 stopping and shouting. It was about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 15.
For what happened next, the two Wednesday received awards for heroism and bravery at a morning ceremony outside Hall Ambulance Service, Inc. on O Street.
Mayor Harvey Hall gave Bickford an award for exhibiting courage and bravery to assist others, regardless of his own injuries.
Lazaro, was given the Star of Life medal for his actions, the highest field service award offered by Hall Ambulance Service.
What Lazaro remembers was talking with Bickford about family and work as the two drove south from Bakersfield along Highway 119 back to Taft after finishing a medical aid transport.
Bickford was just beginning his 36-hour shift; Lazaro was more than halfway through his 24-hour shift.
As they reached Midway Road an alleged drunk driver in a northbound minivan veered left across the double yellow lines into opposing traffic.
In front of the two men, a 1998 Toyota Corolla was sideswiped. Then the minivan plowed head-on into their Suburban.
After extricating themselves and crawling over broken glass, the two immediately began providing aid to the drivers of the two other vehicles. The Toyota’s driver, Santiago Torres, 20, of Taft, had suffered major injuries. Fermin Garcia, 19, of Taft, who was driving the minivan, was pinned inside. Lazaro radioed for help.
A crowd of onlookers formed, and Lazaro remembers “it was starting to get hard to tell who was involved.”
But Lazaro, a paramedic for seven years, and Bickford, a two-year veteran, provided care for the injured men until more help arrived.
It was only then both realized they were seriously injured.
“It’s not until you started feeling a wet feeling that you realize it’s your own blood dripping,” Bickford said.
Lazaro, 33, took the largest blow from the impact and had an open fracture to his left elbow. Wednesday, he wore a metal brace on his left arm. After surgery, he remains on paid administrative leave until his elbow is healed.
Bickford was back to work after one day off.
The Nov. 15 incident was Garcia’s third driving under the influence arrest. He has one DUI conviction and two pending cases, said California Highway Patrol Officer Robert Rodriguez. Garcia had been released from jail for an alleged DUI only three weeks prior to the ambulance collision.
The totaled orange, blue and white ambulance has been kept as a visual reminder of the dangers of drunk driving, said John Surface, vice president of corporate operations for Hall Ambulance.
As Surface described the alleged DUI collision, he said he intentionally did not call it an “accident.”
“An accident is something that is not preventable,” Surface said. “This crash was 100 percent preventable.”
©2014 The Bakersfield Californian