Fatal Ambulance Accidents in North Carolina

Research notes on fatal ambulance accidents in North Carolina. Most involve collisions with other vehicles. Sources include newspapers.com, Digital North Carolina Newspapers, the Fayetteville Observer archives via News Bank, and numerous Google searches.  See source documents in this Google Drive. 2020 to 2024  February 13, 2024 – Cumberland County Cape Fear Valley Medical Center ambulance …

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Raleigh-Wake County Rescue Medic Proposal, 1976

This is an updated version of a blog archives posting from April 2011. Let’s go back in time to 1976, when city and county officials were working to provide a better level of emergency medical service to residents of Raleigh and its suburban areas outside the city limits. Funeral homes hadn’t transported patients for about …

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Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 Crash in Charlotte

This is an expanded version of a Facebook posting on November 24, 2022, and a blogs archive posting (PDF) from April 8, 2010. The state’s second-deadliest plane crash occurred in Charlotte near Douglas Municipal Airport on the morning of September 11, 1974. The Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-9-31 was carrying 78 passengers and 4 crew members. …

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End of an Era for Cary EMS

End of an era. Cary Area EMS ceased responding to 911 calls in Wake County yesterday, April 1, 2021, wrapping 17,758 days of service after answering their first call on August 18, 1972. (But stay tuned, as they’re planning to retool as a new educational non-profit.) The “community rescue squad” was formed in September 1971, …

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How Often Did Raleigh Rescue Transport Patients?

February 2021 Updated posting with call totals for 1955, call data for 1975 and 1976, and other information. September 3, 2016 The Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad was created in 1953. It was comprised of civilian volunteers and fire department drivers, and they operated equipment that was housed at the downtown fire station. (Their gear was …

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Raleigh Rescue Early History

Notes on the early history of the Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad. This is a placeholder posting which will be updated and expanded over time. Related: How Often Did Raleigh Rescue Transport Patients? See expanded version of this history and other information at https://legeros.com/ralwake/raleigh/history/rescue 1947 – First proposal for a Raleigh rescue squad.   1952 [?] – …

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When Iron Lungs Were Added

Long before COVID crashed out shores, our fire departments and rescue squads assisted with another national health crisis. During the polio outbreaks of the 1940s and 1950s, they added iron lungs to their emergency equipment. Here’s the Durham Fire Department receiving one, as photographed by Charles Cooper for the Durham Morning Herald and/or Sun on …

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Trench Rescue at Brier Creek – January 15, 2020

These notes were originally posted on Facebook, after a trench rescue incident on Wednesday, January 15, 2020. See more photos from Mike Legeros in this SmugMug album.    Incident Dispatched 11:03 a.m. Gas station construction site at 4209 Corners Parkway, near intersection of Glenwood Avenue and TW Alexander Drive. Below grade earth collapse trapping four …

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