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Collision Sends One Tobogganer to Hospital Via Helicopter, Five by Ambulance

March 05, 2008 - CAMDEN -- An accident at the bottom of the toboggan chute at the U.S. National Toboggan Championships on Feb. 9 sent one man to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor aboard a LifeFlight helicopter, and five other tobogganers to Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport by ambulance.

On Feb. 10, Camden Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Kuller said he had reports that two of the contestants had suffered a few broken bones. One of them had been airlifted to EMMC on Feb. 9, and after spending the night at the hospital, was apparently doing all right on Feb. 10.

At 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, a four-person sled with the team name Hauraka Hauraka was traveling down the chute when it apparently tipped onto its side at the bottom of the chute, just before the finish line and almost to the point where the chute empties out onto Hosmer Pond. Before the tobogganers could get out of the way, four more people aboard another toboggan with the team name We Lead T came barreling down the chute toward them, said Kuller.

"We don't know why that second toboggan came down," he said.

On Feb. 10, Kuller said the toboggan crew held a debriefing on the incident the previous afternoon and reconfirmed emergency procedures.

"We're still trying to figure out what happened at the top of the chute," he said.

Kuller said on Feb. 12 he was not releasing the names of the injured pending permission from them.

The ski patrol responded to the collision in less than a minute, bundled the injured onto emergency sleds used for mountain rescue and transported them across the frozen pond to ambulances. Four ambulances responded: one of them was already on standby at the mountain for the weekend event.

LifeFlight responded as well, landing on a prepared helipad on Bamestown Road just a mile closer to Camden Village, and airlifted one man to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Kuller said he learned later that the man was conscious and expressing gratitude for the care he received bom the ski patrol and the Camden First Aid Association.

"In 18 years, we haven't had any serious injuries," said Kuller, noting that the Snow Bowl had prepared for emergency events and protocol fell into place as planned.


SOURCE: VILLAGE SOUP TIMES

DATE: 02-13-2008


Lakes:
Regions: Mid Coast


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