BLYTHE: Three, including pregnant woman and infant, airlifted after rollover accident

BLYTHE – Three people, including a pregnant woman and an infant, sustained major injuries in a two-vehicle, rollover traffic collision Dec. 30. The accident happened about 12:33 p.m., on the eastbound I-10 west of Mesa Road in Blythe and forced the closure of all eastbound lanes of traffic to allow three air ambulances to land on the Interstate.

California Highway Patrol officers and firefighters from three engine companies responded to the collision, according to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire spokeswoman April Newman. They were assisted by three air ambulances; Care Flight 7, Care Flight 9, and Native Air 8, as well as Blythe Ambulance and American Medical Response ground ambulances.

When emergency first responders arrived at the scene of the wreck, they reported finding a two-vehicle, rollover traffic collision with three victims suffering moderate to major injuries.

Based on the severity of the victims injuries, firefighters requested three air ambulances to respond to the scene of the accident. CHP officers called for the closure of all eastbound I-10 lanes, to allow the three air ambulances to land on the Interstate.

Newman updated at 1:44 p.m. that the infant patient was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Arizona. Newman described the infants injuries as major.

The pregnant female was transported by air to an area hospital at about 2:21 p.m. Her injuries were initially reported to be major, but her injuries were later downgraded to moderate.

The third victim was also airlifted to an area hospital with major injuries.

Newman updated that all fire resources had cleared the scene of the accident shortly before 3:30 p.m., three hours after the accident was reported.

The lengthy closure prompted a miles-long backup on the eastbound freeway and traffic was backed up as far away as Desert Center. Westbound lanes of traffic were backed up as well, due to people slowing to watch the landing of the three helicopters.

No further information was available regarding the three victims.

 

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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.