On Thursday September 22, 2022 at 5:56 AM Wading River Fire Department was activated by Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services (SCFRES) dispatchers of a motor vehicle accident (MVA) with a reported patient trapped in the vehicle / Heavy Rescue request on the Southbound William Floyd Parkway. 2nd Assistant Chief Mark Donnelly, on his way to work, came upon the incident, as WRFD was being activated and confirmed that there was a 2 vehicle MVA with one male patient who was trapped in his vehicle, Heavy rescue would be required. Chief Donnelly also asked FRES to relay to Suffolk County Police (SCPD) that he needed southbound William Floyd Parkway closed and requested SCPD aviation section for a medivac helicopter. Chief Of the Department Denise Gluck arrived within 5 minutes and established Incident Command as Chief Donnelly was involved with patient care. Shortly after, Wading River Fire District 1st Responder paramedics arrived as well as 1st Assistant Chief Kevin Berg.
Chief Donnelly advised responding WRFD Heavy Rescue unit 6-3-10 (WR-HR) of the need for door removals, roof removal and a dashboard displacement. The crew on board WR-HR worked closely with the paramedic, inside the vehicle with the patient, to quickly remove the doors, roof and to lift the dashboard and steering wheel away from the patient to allow him to be removed to the awaiting ambulance. During the extrication, a SCPD Emergency Services unit arrived and the officers assisted the WRFD in disentangling the patient from the wreckage. Chief Gluck was also informed that a SCPD aviation unit was not available.
The patient was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, the Suffolk County Level 1 Trauma center with multiple serious injuries.
Units were cleared from the scene at 06:54 AM and the scene was turned over to SCPD to conduct their investigation.