One hurt in wreck of a bus, ambulance

Neither the two other paramedics in the ambulance nor the bus driver were injured, officials say.

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 12, 2000

LEALMAN -- An ambulance driver was hurt and an ambulance was totaled Saturday after a church bus hit it broadside, officials say.

Ambulance driver Brian Card, 27, who has worked for the Sunstar ambulance company for a little more than a month, was treated and released from Ed White Hospital after firefighters with Lealman Fire Rescue extricated him from the ambulance, said Toni Rametta, Sunstar operations manager. Two other paramedics in the ambulance were unhurt. The bus driver apparently also was not hurt.

The ambulance, which was 4 years old, will have to be replaced. That will cost about $60,000, Rametta said.

"It's a pretty expensive total job," she said.

Rametta said she has not received an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol, but she understands the facts as follows:

The ambulance was traveling north on Haines Road about noon Saturday. The ambulance was was changing locations to be nearer a place where data show an accident is likely to occur. The church bus, which was an old school-type bus, was going east on 58th Avenue N. The bus stopped at the sign at the intersection, then started again and hit the ambulance broadside.

"He thought it was a four-way stop," Rametta said.

The bus driver was cited for failure to yield right of way and having an improper driver's license for the type of vehicle he was driving, she said.

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