Team effort by EMS groups credited with successful rescue operation at Water View

by Larry S. Chowning

When Upper Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department chief George Longest heard a call for help over his monitor at 9:52 p.m. on Monday, July 5, he had no idea then he would be involved in a search-and-rescue mission involving one of the worst boating accidents in history on the Rappahannock River.

Members of the Virginia Marine Police and State Police inspect the wrecked 22-foot Chaparral at Millstone Landing in Water View. (Photo by George Longest, chief of the Upper Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department)

A 25-year-old Glen Allen woman died and nine people were injured, some seriously, when a 22-foot fiberglass Chaparral bow-rider ran head-on into the steel legs of the #10 channel marker near Morattico in Lancaster County. The boat was traveling about 35 miles per hour at the time of the crash, according to marine police.

Even though Millstone Landing at Water View was on the other side of the river in Middlesex County, the deep water and large parking facilities at the Water View landing provided a better staging site for search-and-rescue efforts than any site in Lancaster County that was close to the accident scene.

Longest, who is a professional firefighter/paramedic in York County, was listening to his radio when he overheard a dispatcher asking county deputy Trey Blake if he was aware of the location of Channel Marker 10 in the river because there had been a boating accident there.

“I called Deputy Blake by cell phone,” said Longest in a written report.  “He advised me that there was a possible boating accident with possible injuries totaling 12.”

During the early stages of the event, rescue and Coast Guard officials were not sure how many passengers were on the boat at the time of the crash. Earlier in the evening, there had been 12 onboard the boat but, unknown to rescuers at the time, two young male passengers had been dropped off at Grey’s Point in Topping to meet their parents. At the time the boat struck the channel marker, there were 10 people on board.

Longest proceeded to Millstone Landing dock and was advised by dispatcher Tammy Ellis that an 11-year-old boy in the accident had a serious head injury.

In his capacity as chief of the Upper Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department (UMVFD), Longest immediately advised the sheriff’s dispatcher he would assume command of the location, and proceeded to direct search-and-rescue traffic at the landing site in Water View.

Assistant Water View fire chief Billy Collier set up a command station at the firehouse to direct and organize helicopter and rescue squad units as patients were being unloaded to be transported to hospitals.

The Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) of Urbanna and the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office assisted in setting up lights at Millstone Landing and at the designated helicopter landing site next to the firehouse.

Deputy Blake was the eyes and ears of the entire operation as he set up a station at the top of the hill at Millstone where he monitored the Coast Guard radio channel. Throughout the night and into the morning, Blake informed the Coast Guard, Longest and Collier of the intelligence needed to off-load and transport patients.

“It was an amazing team effort,” said Middlesex Sheriff Guy Abbott, who was on the scene most of the night working with the Coast Guard.

At the beginning of the rescue effort, the Central Middlesex Volunteer Rescue Squad (CMVRS) of Urbanna was already at the Millstone Landing site and the Middlesex County Volunteer Rescue Squad (MCVRS) of Deltaville was en route.

The sheriff’s dispatcher contacted three local hospitals, alerting them to the situation and determining how many patients each hospital could handle.

Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester advised the dispatcher it could handle two “red” (seriously injured) and two “green” (not so serious). Rappahannock General Hospital in Kilmarnock reported it could handle one red and two green, and Riverside Tappahannock Hospital said it could handle two or three patients, depending on the extent of their injuries.

“With the arrival of members of Water View Fire Department, I assigned the assistant fire chief to set up a landing zone for the medical helicopters,” said Longest.

Longest and others were kept in touch with the events on the water by Deputy Blake, who advised Longest that the 11-year-old boy with the serious head injury was “unresponsive but breathing.”

“A few moments later all the rescue squads and medical units began to arrive,” said Longest. “We lined the medical units up side by side facing out for transport, and we waited. Sheriff Abbott and his deputies were setting up more lighting so we could see better.

“Captain Chris Marshall [of the MVFD] arrived and he was assigned along with members of Central Middlesex Volunteer Rescue Squad to go with the Coast Guard Auxiliary (Flotilla 33 of Kilmarnock) boat to help bring in patients,” said Longest.

Marshall is an EMT-I with the MVFD. He and EMT-I Cathy Mitchell and EMT-E Kate Hall of the CMVRS proceeded to the crash scene aboard the auxiliary boat.

“Chris was a big help in giving me information on each patient prior to them being transported from the accident scene to the dock,” said Longest. “This information enabled me to determine if the patient was to be transported by air or medic unit.”

Eight patients were brought to Millstone Landing by boat. The 11-year-old boy was air-lifted from the crash scene on the water by a Coast Guard helicopter from Elizabeth City, N.C. The boy was taken to the Water View Firehouse where he was transferred to a Life EVAC III helicopter and flown to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, said Longest.

In addition to several ambulances from the CMVRS and MCVRS, two ambulances from Tappahannock-Essex and one from Gloucester were at the rescue site at Millstone Landing.

Captain Kevin Mounts of CMVRS was assigned the job of “medical sector,” the person who coordinates the medical personnel and units at the rescue site. He was assisted by Troy Jackson of the MCVRS.

Mark Shelton of MVFD was assigned the job of tracking all units on the scene, the number of patients, to which location they were transported, and by which unit.

“When the first boat came to the dock with four patients, crews from all the medic units assisted each other in preparing the patients for transport,” said Longest.

One patient was flown to VCU Medical Center by Life EVAC I, and the other three were transported by vehicle to Riverside Walter Reed.

The #10 marker in the Rappahannock River dwarfs most recreational boats.

“When Captain Marshall returned to the scene for the second transport, he advised me that we would possibly need two more helicopters,” said Longest. 

The Nightingale and Life Care helicopters responded to the scene.

When the second boat docked with the last four patients, two were transported to the firehouse to be flown toVCU Medical Center, with the other two patients transported to Riverside Tappahannock.

“Everyone worked very well together and it was a very organized scene at the boat landing and at the firehouse landing,” said Longest. “I thank everyone for a great job. Everyone went above and beyond the call of duty. Everyone worked hard to make sure every patient was transported with best of care.”

Numerous volunteers and others were at Millstone Landing from about 10:30 p.m. on Monday, July 5, to 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday, July 6, when a Virginia Marine Police boat pulled up to the dock with the body of 25-year-old Amanda Brady, who drowned after being thrown into the river by the impact of the crash. The Coast Guard located her body by sonar on the bottom of the river, and State Police search-and-rescue divers brought her body to the surface at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

According to marine police, Miss Brady, a 5th-grade school teacher in Henrico County, and the other adults aboard the boat were not wearing life jackets. All the youth aboard were wearing life jackets.

Sheriff Abbott stayed with the family of Miss Brady onshore during the search for her body. “Before her body was found, Miss Brady’s family came down from the Washington D. C. area and I called Ronnie Russell, chaplain of [Upper Middlesex Volunteer] fire department, to meet with them,” he said. 

“When the family arrived, we all greeted them and Ronnie had everyone hold hands and we all prayed,” said Abbott.

“Her family had already left when the Virginia Marine Police boat brought in her body. Ronnie came down to the landing and the Coast Guard personnel, State Police, VMRC, my deputies, and those from the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries all held hands and we prayed over her body,” said Abbott. “It was one of the most touching moments I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

posted 07.14.2010