Two wreck victims injured
by MCL staff writer

Air Heart helicopter lifts off with wreck victim headed for a Dothan hospital for treatment.

Two injured victims were brought to Miller County Hospital emergency room after a single vehicle accident occurred Saturday, March 29, at approximately 12 noon.

The call came in reporting there had been a single vehicle accident at 1059 State Highway 45, south of Colquitt with two injuries.

The Miller County 911 operator dispatched Miller County sheriff deputies, Miller County Ambulance Service, and Colquitt/Miller County Fire and Rescue to the scene. Upon arrival, they found the driver and one passenger inside the van. The van had veered off the roadway and struck a large pine tree, injuring both occupants.

The accident occurred when Mrs. Betty Dickerson, 77, of Iron City, was driving north on SR Hwy. 45 in her 2003 KIA Sedona van. She had just travelled around a curve and dropped off the northbound lane and over-compensated, losing control. The van travelled across the north and southbound lane and was pulled back across both lanes of travel and struck some rocks and drove into a large pine tree with the front end of the van. The driver and one passenger, Amy McCormick, 46, of Iron City, were thrown forward, injuring both driver and passenger.

EMT and rescue squad aid victims in the wrecked van.

The driver sustained serious head injuries. The passenger had visible injuries. The two victims were treated on the scene by the EMTs, and both were transported by ambulance to the Miller County Hospital for additional treatment and to stabilize the patients to be transported.

Protocol calls were made for the medical helicopter to be called to transport a patient to a trauma center. The injuries to the driver were determined to be life-threatening injures, so the Air Heart helicopter was called to transport the driver, Mrs. Dickerson, from the ER parking lot.

Colquitt/Miller County Fire and Rescue officerscleared the ER parking lot at the Miller County Hospital. The Air Heart helicopter landed, loaded the patient and transported the driver to a Dothan, Alabama medical center. The passenger, Ms. McCormick was also transferred by Miller County Ambulance for observation and tests.

The accident report was not completed at the time this incident was printed, but available information was given by GSP dispatcher.

The contributing factor that caused the accident was that the driver lost control.

It was noted that the head-on collision with the large tree did not deploy the air bags for either the driver or the passenger. It was not known if either the driver or passenger was wearing safety equipment. The conditions of either victim were unknown at press time. The van sustained extensive damage.

No citations were issued. Georgia State Patrol Trooper John Jackson who was the investigating officer.