UPDATE: Wauwatosa Woman Died After Head-On Crash
Brookfield Fire Chief Charlie Myers said a 69-year-old woman was talking to paramedics before being taken to an area hospital where she later died.
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- Reports from Fox6now.com and WISN.com
Update (2 p.m.): A Wauwatosa woman died after her minivan was struck in a head-on crash Tuesday, police said.
Candace M. Durdin, 69, of Wauwatosa, was pronounced dead at 12:40 a.m. from injuries that she received in the crash, Brookfield police said.
The other driver, a 30-year-old Waukesha man, is still listed in critical condition at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa. His identity was being held pending further investigation, police said.
Update (10:55 a.m.) Extricated from her minivan after a head-on traffic crash, a 69-year-old woman was alert and talking to parademics, hours before she died at a local hospital, a fire official said.
Brookfield Fire Chief Charlie Myers said in an interview that crews from his department used Jaws of Life tools to get the woman out of her Dodge Caravan shortly after the 7 p.m. collision on North Avenue at Hollyhock Lane.
"We’re saddened," Myers said. "We don’t know what the cause of the fataility actually was, whether it was related to the injuries or some other type of thing that happened because at the time that we were with her, she was communicating with the firefighters and paramedics."
Police said a Buick Regal driven by a 30-year-old Waukesha man crossed the center line on two-lane North Avenue just north of Elm Grove and struck the Caravan.
Fire crews extricated the man from the Regal and he was flown by Flight for Life to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa, where he was in critical condition.
After the woman was rescued from her minivan, an Elm Grove ambulance took her to Froedtert and she actually arrived at the hospital before the man on the helicopter because it took longer to get him out of his damaged car, Myers said.
The woman's name and residence was not immediately available Wednesday morning, and Myers said he had no information on why the Waukesha man crossed the center line.
Myers said the last traffic fatality he could remember in the city was a death on I-94 near Elm Grove Road several years ago during the reconstruction of the Interstate. However, he added that his department does not always learn after transporting patients to hospitals whether they survive.
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Update (7:15 a.m.) A 69-year-old woman died in a hospital overnight and a 30-year-old Waukesha man was in critical condition after police say the man crossed the center line on North Avenue and collided head-on into the woman's vehicle Tuesday evening, Fox6now.com reports.
Original story: Both were both taken to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital after the crash, with the man flown by Flight for Life, Brookfield Police Lt. Jeffrey Schramm said.
According to Schramm:
At 7:03 p.m. police and fire personnel responded to a two-vehicle crash on North Avenue, 400 feet east of Hollyhock Lane.
Investigators determined a Buick Regal was traveling west on North Avenue and crossed the center line, colliding head-on with a Dodge Caravan headed east.
A 30-year-old Waukesha man driving the Regal was taken to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital by Flight for Life.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Joseph
8:18 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
I wonder if he was texting.
Irish Guy 53213
9:12 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Texting was my first thought.
Lisa Sink
11:02 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Waiting to hear more from Brookfield police. Will advise when I hear more.
Frank Pipia
11:41 am on Thursday, May 31, 2012
Very, very sad... you just never know when something like this is going to happen. Just so unfortunate... my heart goes out to her family.
Randy1949
11:09 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Incredibly sad. Mechanical failure and heart attack (even in a thirty year old) could be alternate explanations. However, electronic devices and the associated distractions have become a modern day road hazard.
Bud Tuglie
2:50 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Really? We're using a Flight for Life helicopter to transport a victim from Elm Grove to Wauwatosa? Isn't that about 4.2 miles or an 8 minute drive?
Redonkulous.
Randy1949
3:00 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
It's an eight minute drive if there's no traffic. Imagine if this were your loved one and time was critical to survival. Is this what we've come to in our state?
Alfred
3:59 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Yes Randy, you love spending other peoples money, hey its not my dime, nothing but the best!!
Scott Berg
5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Every Flight for Life mission is staffed by at least two clinicians (paramedic or nurse) with special critical care training beyond a fire department paramedic. There may be a physician or resident as well as the pilot The helicopter has far more life support equipment than an ambulance, especially for trauma, allowing advanced procedures like placement and monitoring of chest-tubes, an aortic balloon-pump, etc.
So, even if the time difference wasn't much in this particular case, the level of care for a critically ill person is much more sophisticated.
Jim Price
5:41 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
To add to what Scott said, re: "spending other people's money" (Alfred), Flight for Life is a business, not a public service. It charges a fee for rescue flights, so in the case of a 30-year-old driver, assuming he has insurance, it is his private insurer that will pay. FFL is funded almost entirely by fees for service, so except in the case of those covered by Medicaid/Medicare, there is no taxpayer money involved – and that would be no different if it were a private ground ambulance service.
Does the helicopter rescue cost more? Sure. But I've ridden with these people, they are the most awe-inspiring professionals I've ever met (and that's not hyperbole), and if I'm critically injured, they are who I want by my side, whether in the air or on the ground.
Also, the whole point about time is misguided and mistaken. If there had been no extraction involved in this case, most likely the man would have been rushed to the hospital in a ground ambulance, because it takes 10 minutes to spin up the helicopter. But since it took time to get the man out of the car – while he was visibly critical inside – they were able to have the chopper there and whisk him to the hospital in much less time than any ground ambulance could have done it. Those are life-saving minutes.
KKP
11:49 am on Thursday, May 31, 2012
Just two comments....well, three....
1) Very sad the woman passed away...my condolances to her family...
2) We should never assume that texting or any other distraction was a cause for any accident...the young man driving the other car shouldn't be looked down upon - we have no idea if he had a heart attack, a diabetic issue, a stroke, or if his vehicle had some sort of mechanical failure. We just don't know, and shouldn't draw conclusions that aren't warranted.
3) I would never question a professional's decision on whether a patient should be driven or lifted to the hospital...this is why they are the professionals...and why I'm not. If an emergency professional decides that Flight is warranted, I trust he or she knows what he or she is talking about.
Bud Tuglie
12:53 pm on Thursday, May 31, 2012
The superbly trained clinicians and the support equipment of Flight for Life are highly commendable. If I'm extracted from a vehicle in Elm Grove, I want them there. They are Seal Team Six. Just bring them in a ground ambulance so there is $25,000 less for my family to pay off after my organs are harvested and I'm taken off life support. Ten minutes to crank up a chopper? Even my pizza delivery driver could be there and back before FFL leaves the pad.
Randy1949
1:00 pm on Thursday, May 31, 2012
What is this world coming to? Reading the Patch is beginning to make me lose faith in my fellow Man.
Jim Price
2:56 pm on Thursday, May 31, 2012
It takes 10 minutes to get airborne because they are obsessive about safety and will not fly without a complete walkaround and computer diagnostic before every flight. Last summer, FFL celebrated the milestone of 30,000 flights without an accident. As they say, they do a seriously injured patient little good if their helicopter goes down.
Tom Syburg
6:45 am on Friday, June 1, 2012
You are the most ignorant uncaring person if you have nothing better to do than worry about your precious tax dollars when 2 famalies have just suffered a life altering event with this tragic accident...Grow Bud Tuglie and show some compassion. This conversation should end NOW and let these famalies begin to heal without judgement and senseless arguing about costs and $$.
Ann
7:22 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
WHY are they not outlawing cell phone use both texting and talking? You can't chew gum and dance at the same time. There was a young lady in my area killed about 6 months ago while texting weaved into the other lane and was hit head on. It only takes SECONDS. A car does not drive itself.
Bud Tuglie
8:04 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
Tom Syburg I do not lack compassion for crash victims, nor have I complained about spending tax money. I have a $25,000 deductible to pay if someone crosses the center line and I end up pinned unconscious in my 1996 Toyota Corolla on North Avenue in Elm Grove. I'm just asking that the responders not spend MY estate money foolishly by pirating my dying gorked quivering 76 year old carcass from a crash site and fly it 4 miles to Froedert in a chopper. It takes more time. It costs more money. Anything you can put in a helicopter can be transported in an ambulance. Tell me if you can - What is the possible benefit? In case you didn't notice, our health care system is insolvent.
Foodie2inTosa
4:51 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Has anyone heard how theyoung man is? There was just another accident in less than a week a few blocks East last night. Could people please SLOW DOWN, WEAR SUNGLASSES and pay attention whjle driving? That stretch of North Ave is an accident waiting to happen for those who are in a hurry.