Ambulance driver charged with failure to yield

A Duplin County ambulance driver was charged with failure to yield after a collision with a commercial tractor-trailer sent several persons to the hospital.

The accident occurred this morning at the intersection of North NC 111 Highway and Sheep Pasture Road in Albertson. According to EMS officials, the Duplin County 911 Center received the call at 7:15 a.m., and dispatched Albertson and Pleasant Grove fire departments, Duplin County EMS, Duplin County Emergency Management and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

“The ambulance was loaded with a patient and was in transit to the hospital without the use of lights or sirens. The driver of the tractor-trailer was ambulatory on the scene,” reported EMS.

According to law enforcement the ambulance driver turned left in front of a commercial tractor-trailer that had a full load of chickens and was not able to stop on time. All persons involved in the accident were evaluated and transported for medical care and there were no life-threatening injuries.

“We had 2 employees who were on the ambulance at the time,” Brandon McMahon, Emergency Medical Services Director told Duplin Journal, adding that both were airlifted to ECU Medical Center in Greenville, and both appear to have non-life threatening injuries. “They both will stay over night for observation.”