One person was airlifted to hospital with unknown injuries and another was transported by ground ambulance in the care of critical care paramedics following a motor vehicle collision on Highway 4 at Faber Road west of Port Alberni on Friday, May 30.
Two other people were transported to hospital in serious but stable condition, said Paramedic Public Information Officer Brian Twaites from B.C. Emergency Health Services (BC EHS).
The call came in at approximately 11:30 a.m. Multiple crews from Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department, Port Alberni Fire Department, BC Ambulance and the Port Alberni RCMP all responded to the incident, treating multiple patients at the scene.
"Four ambulances with primary care paramedics, a paramedic supervisor, an ambulance with critical care paramedics and an air ambulance responded," Twaites said. Three of the ambulance crews were from Port Alberni and two came from Parksville. The first available crew was on scene by 11:59 a.m., he said.
The air ambulance was dispatched from Vancouver International Airport, as Parksville helicopters weren't available, he added.
The current condition of the two patients transported by critical care teams was not released.
The highway was closed in both directions for about an hour to allow the air ambulance to land on the highway close to the scene, witnesses in waiting vehicles said. The helicopter lifted off around 2 p.m.
Half an hour after Sproat Lake first responders were clear of the Faber Road scene they were called to another MVI at the Km 10 marker of Highway 4 involving two vehicles. This incident blocked the eastbound lane of Highway 4, interrupting traffic that had just begun to clear from the first incident.
Traffic at the second scene, near Ward Creek, was finally cleared 90 minutes after crews were first called, according to BC EHS via PulsePoint.
