Wind 'blew ambulance on top of paramedics'

Two paramedics were pinned beneath their ambulance after it was toppled in gale-force winds, their rescuers say.

The two women, paramedics with Wairarapa District Health Board's ambulance service, were two of four emergency service workers injured while dealing with a crash scene in south Wairarapa on Sunday night.

Two volunteer firefighters, the first on the scene when a van rolled injuring its driver, were also hurt.

Featherston Volunteer Service fire chief Colin McKenna said wind conditions at the site of the double accident were some of the worst he had experienced, with gusts of up to 150kmh.

"That ambulance went over hard and fast and fell right on top of those two women. It was really luck on their side that they were not killed. Both were pinned. It was horrific."

The van was blown on to its side about 4.30pm.

The first fire engine to arrive, about 20 minutes before the ambulance from Masterton reached the crash site south of Featherston, was dealing with the injured van driver when the wind hit.

"We had two guys stopping traffic. One was holding a lollipop-style stop sign, which was ripped from his hands, and his helmet was torn from his head.

"He was literally picked up and chucked to the ground and suffered severe hand injuries trying to break his fall."

The second firefighter was also blown over and suffered a suspected broken ankle.

As other fire crews were dealing to their own injured men and the injured van driver, the ambulance arrived, Mr McKenna said. "One of the women in the ambulance got out and went around to the left-hand side of the ambulance and then there was this horrific gust of wind and it just blew the ambulance over on top of her.

"She was lying on the ground with her leg trapped and the other paramedic, who was getting out of the ambulance, was also trapped by her leg."

Mr McKenna said that, in a stroke of luck, a motorist who had a winch on his four-wheel-drive vehicle went past within minutes of the ambulance falling.

"The guys grabbed the opportunity immediately and hooked the winch on and were able to lift the ambulance off the women.

"They were just so lucky. It really was quite scary."

Both paramedics were too shaken to talk yesterday. One has had surgery to repair a broken ankle.

- © Fairfax NZ News