Hurt paramedics help crash victims
Despite being injured, ambulance paramedics attend to wounded from another vehicle
They were taking a patient to hospital when their ambulance ended up in a collision with a car.
Despite suffering neck and back injuries, the two paramedics worked through their pain and attended to the wounded in the other vehicle.
It was only later in hospital that one of them - the male paramedic - found out that the pain in his lower back was the result of a fracture.
The accident happened at about 8pm on Wednesday at the junction of Bukit Batok Road and Bukit Batok West Avenue 3.
The ambulance was taking a man in his 50s from Choa Chu Kang to the National University Hospital (NUH) when the accident happened, said a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman.
Two paramedics and the ambulance driver were hurt. A mother and son who were in the back seat of the car suffered minor injuries, reported Shin Min Daily News.
The New Paper understands that the car was driven by a woman. There were three other family members in the car. They were nearing their home when the crash took place.
Shin Min reported that following the collision, the paramedics quickly tended to their own injuries and then sprung into action.
BANDAGE
A female paramedic, with her head bandaged, and her male colleague who was limping, were seen rushing to the car, the paper reported.
It took about five to 10 minutes to get the mother out from the backseat.
SCDF said it sent three ambulances and a fire engine to the scene.
The five injured were taken to NUH, where the male paramedic was found to have suffered a fracture in his lower back. His female colleague had cuts on her head while the ambulance driver sprained his neck.
BY THE numbers
17
The number of motorists arrested by the Traffic Police for drink-driving, during an island-wide operation early on Wednesday, during which 54 drivers were checked. Of these, 13 were men and the rest women, said the police yesterday.
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