Manitoba health officials praise response to tragic crash near Carberry
Posted June 16, 2023 12:47 pm.
Last Updated June 16, 2023 5:46 pm.
Manitoba health officials have confirmed 10 people are still in hospital following Thursday’s crash near Carberry that left 15 people dead.
Of those patients, six are in critical condition and four are being cared for in surgical units, in both the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre (HSC) and Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC).
“These are quite extensive injuries,” said Dr. Shawn Young, chief operating officer of HSC Winnipeg. “Six of them are in critical care receiving life saving support. Many orthopedic injuries as you can imagine, and some others as well, but to prevent predominance of orthopedic injuries.”
Shared Health confirms the age of all those in hospital are between early 60s and late 80s.
“The response to yesterday’s incident was provincial on a massive scale. Thirteen ambulances were involved in the scene response, with crews assessing, triaging and transporting individuals to Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) and other locations where they were either treated or stabilized before being transferred to HSC,” said Shared Health in a statement.
“Air ambulance response was also significant, with Shared Health patient transport, STARS and LifeGuard Sask Air all providing support either at the scene or for transport between hospitals from Prairie Mountain Health and Southern Health-Santé Sud to Winnipeg.”
Speaking with media Friday, officials said the response provided from Brandon, Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, and Saskatchewan was extremely vital for trying to save lives and provide care for those involved in the crash.
In total, 30 paramedics responded to the collision, including 2 Star Air Ambulances.
Officials confirmed, the majority of the patients went to BRHC.
“Two patients were transferred from the scene directly to Health Sciences Center. An additional seven transports happened over the course of the afternoon and evening from the hospitals in Brandon and Portage la prairie involving four planes, two helicopters, as well as ground transportation staffed by various crews from Shared Health, Emergency Response Services, Stars and LifeGuard Air,” said Lanette Siragusa, CEO of Shared Health.
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“We mobilized as many resources as we could to the scene, recognizing that we also have to maintain our response capacity for other types of emergencies. And likewise, you know, picking up patients that might have often gone to Brandon but making sure that they were being provided care … and then we were also able very fortunately to mobilize their ambulance resources from Winnipeg, and from our neighbors to the west and Saskatchewan,” said Dr. Rob Grierson, Shared Health’s chief medical officer of emergency response services.
“I can’t underestimate the importance of not being able to get all those resources in Brandon in a very timely fashion. That really facilitated the subsequent movement of patients from Brandon hospital to Health Sciences Center.”
“I’d also like to acknowledge the amazing work first responders police, fire paramedics, air ambulance teams from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, hospital staff in Brandon, Portage and (Winnipeg). You never fully prepare for some tragedy, like everybody rose to the occasion and provided the highest level of care.”
Siragusa noted 28 patients were transferred throughout the day to continuing care facilities across the province to free up resources to receive patients from the crash.
“The relationships that exist between the health regions the health care facilities and many other agencies and stakeholders allow for a response of this nature to occur,” said Siragusa.
Shared Health says it is working closely with the RCMP to ensure families are provided with as much information as possible.
Mental health and grief councillors have been made available for those affected by the collision.
Individuals in the health region who are struggling with their mental health are encouraged to call 1-888-379-7699 to access supports. Shared Health notes that includes Wellness Canada counsellors, who can be reached on a 24/7 basis at 1-866-585-0445.
Other supports can be found on the Shared Health website.
