WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating a two-vehicle crash involving an ambulance that happened Monday night.
According to PCSO, just after 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, the ambulance with a patient in a gurney on the back was headed westbound on SR 544 out of Haines City, traveling to Winter Haven Hospital.
PCSO said the EMT driver Eryn Orduna had emergency equipment activated and as she approached a red light, slowed and looked both ways before entering the intersection, when a black Ford F450 pulling a trailer, driven by Yandy Baez entered the intersection heading southbound at highway speed.
The Ford hit the ambulance on the right front side, as ambulance spun and came to a rest on a grass shoulder of US Hwy 27. The F450 came to a final rest across the middle and outside lanes of southbound US Hwy 27, according to PCSO.
Paramedic John Parris in the back of the ambulance with the patient was thrown from his seat and suffered significant injuries, PCSO said.
Both Parris and the patient were hospitalized and remain in critical condition. Both drivers were also taken to local hospitals, Orduna has since been released and Baez is expected to make a full recovery.
Southbound US Hwy 27 was closed for five hours due to the investigation.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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