Helicopter crash kill volunteer EMT

[resqgeek]

Sometime around midnight Saturday night, a Maryland State Police helicopter flying a medivac mission crashed near Andrews Air Force Base. The helicopter had been enroute from an auto accident in Waldorf, Maryland to Prince George's Hospital Center. Because they were transporting two seriously injured patients from the accident, a 39 year-old volunteer EMT from the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department volunteered to ride along and assist the State Police Paramedic with patient care. The investigation into the crash continues, but it appears that weather played a role.

The volunteer EMT, Tonya Mallard was near the end of her volunteer shift at the time of the auto accident and was among the first rescue workers on the scene. Mallard had been a volunteer EMT since 2004, and was the mother of two sons, ages 11 and 15.

Also killed in the helicopter crash was civilian pilot Stephen Bunker, State Police paramedic Mickey Libby and one of the two teenage patients.

More details from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092800372.html