Four people were injured when a semi-truck and a Tahoe collided near the 59 mile marker southbound Monday morning June 8th. The two front occupants of the Tahoe were trapped in the wreckage, and an 11 year old boy in the back seat suffered multiple non-life threatening injuries. The child was able to exit the vehicle on his own. The truck driver also sustained non-life threatening injuries. First arriving units requested a second Fire-Rescue ambulance to respond. Firefighter-Paramedics treated all four patients at the scene and during the extrication. The Tahoe, which had driven under the rear of the flatbed trailer received extensive damage, pushing the dashboard onto the two adult patients in the front seat, pinning them between the dashboard and the seats. Responders used Holmatro Hydraulic Rescue Tools to remove the front doors and hydraulic Rams to displace the dashboard. Both front occupants were then extricated from the Tahoe. The adult female driver received multiple injuries, while the male passenger received minor injuries. No medical helicopters were immediately available. The female driver and the 11 year old were transported to the Trauma Center at MUSC. The driver was transported to the adult Trauma Center, the child was transported to the MUSC Children’s Trauma Center (Shawn Jenkins Hospital), the adult male was transported to HCA Colleton Hospital in Walterboro, and the truck driver denied ambulance transport. I-95 southbound was down to one lane for approximately one hour. The accident is being investigated by SC Highway Patrol.
