Two men are recovering from injuries they suffered in a two-vehicle wreck involving an ambulance on a northwestern Forsyth County road.
The men, both employees of Advanced Ambulance, likely will return to work soon, said J.D. Owen, company vice president. Both were treated for injuries and released after the April 26 collision on Canton Highway.
“We’ve had a contract with the county since January 2008 and this is the first accident of this nature we’ve had,” Owen said.
Four men, including one patient, were on board at the time. He said the man was properly secured in the ambulance and a Forsyth County firefighter accompanied him after the wreck to Northside Hospital-Forsyth.
“The patient received zero injuries from the accident, to my knowledge, and was transported to the hospital for his original complaint,” Owen said.
The incident occurred about 11 a.m. April 26 on Canton Highway, less than a mile east of Woodland Hills Drive. Owen said the ambulance was coming from the patient’s home.
Forsyth County Sheriff’s Capt. Frank Huggins said 43-year-old Richard Lewis Smith of Cumming struck the ambulance when he tried to turn left from Canton Highway into a hardware store.
Both his 2008 Nissan Titan and the ambulance, driven by Advanced Ambulance employee Joshua James Garrett, 27, were traveling east.
Huggins said the ambulance, whose emergency equipment was activated, was carrying a 51-year-old man. The impact forced it off the road and down an embankment, where it struck some trees.
John Uzee, who is also an Advanced Ambulance employee, and Fire Lt. William Raines were also in the ambulance.
Forsyth County Fire Capt. Jason Shivers said Raines was one of the emergency responders at the home and rode on the ambulance to continue the man’s care.
He commended Raines for going with the patient to the hospital.
“He insisted on maintaining patient care until they got to the emergency room,” Shivers said.
Smith was treated at the scene but not hospitalized, Huggins said. He was cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.