PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The ferry crash Sunday night happened in the blink of an eye.
"All of a sudden, we heard the first mate yelling, 'hey, hey, hey,' and then we look back behind us, and this big yacht just came through the boat,” one witness told ABC Action News.
Watch full report from Mary O'Connell
Dozens of police officers and firefighters rushed to the scene.
"We actually entered into a level one mass casualty,” Clearwater EMS Chief Tony Tedesco said during a press conference this week. “We pulled as many ambulances and transport rescues as we possibly can."
Clearwater Police said there were 10 total injuries and six trauma alerts. One person died.
Officials said people had broken bones, as well as orthopedic, soft tissue, and head injuries.
"Our administrator on duty that night came down to let us know that there was a ferry accident, and they called it a mass casualty and that we were preparing for anywhere from two to six patients,” said Dr. Carly Snyder, an ER physician at Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital.
Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Pete received and treated two patients from the ferry crash.
Dr. Snyder was in the ER when they came in.
"We'd actually had just six traumas prior to that call, so we were prepared,” said Snyder. “We were ready to go."
Dr. Snyder said their team regularly does mass casualty drills, one just recently.
"What that training does is actually allow us to scale up our staffing and the physicians and everyone that's available to care for patients, so we can continue providing great care even at a higher quantity than we normally would see,” said Snyder.
Staff prepare for everything, knowing anything could walk through their emergency room doors at any moment.
"Everyone was ready to go, ready to stay late,” said Dr. Snyder. “My shift was going to be ending, but none of us left on time that night. We were ready to stay and take care of whatever was coming in so we could take care of our community."
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
