Two Pa. Firefighters Remain Hospitalized After Crash
Source Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, Pa.
May 21--The volunteer fire company members injured in Sunday's crash in Coolbaugh Township have a long road to recovery ahead, Coolbaugh Township Assistant Fire Chief Bill Weimer said Monday.
Fire Police Officer Thomas DeMarsh, who suffered a compound fracture and internal bleeding, was scheduled for surgery Monday, Weimer said.
Firefighter Kenneth Price, who suffered severe head and facial injuries, was also scheduled for surgery Monday.
DeMarsh, who maintains traffic and crowd control at emergency scenes, was driving a fire police vehicle, converted from an ambulance, south on Route 196 Sunday.
He was taking Price and two junior firefighters, both under age 18, back to the firehouse.
"They were coming back from a structure fire in (A Pocono Country Place)," Weimer said.
About 600 feet from APCP's main entrance, a northbound Pocono Cab Company taxi driven by Michael West, 55, of Stroudsburg, slid sideways into the southbound lane and collided with the fire police van.
West was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:12 p.m., according to Monroe County Coroner Bob Allen.
DeMarsh and Price were taken to Geisinger-Community Medical Center in Scranton, while the two junior firefighters were taken to Pocono Medical Center and later released.
"We'll have critical incident stress management available for our members," Weimer said Monday. "This is offered by the state Health Department and scheduled by the Eastern Pennsylvania Emergency Medical Services Council. It's basically a debriefing and counseling session, where our members are free to talk about what happened and how it's affecting them."
Weimer said no one was home at the time of the APCP fire that firefighters responded to prior to the crash, and that the residence was heavily damaged.
In a Facebook posting Monday, Coolbaugh Township Volunteer Fire Co. updated its friends about DeMarsh and Price.
"Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they take the long path to recovery," the posting said.
Copyright 2013 - Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, Pa.
