It took 18 minutes to transport cop in fatal highway crash from scene to hospital - Police Commissioner
Published:Tuesday | May 3, 2022 | 5:13 PM
Kimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson says it took 18 minutes to transport the now deceased police constable Donald Carr from the scene of a highway car crash to the St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital on Saturday night.
He made the disclosure at a media briefing this afternoon where he sought to clarify the sequence of events that followed the incident along the North South Highway that left the 36-year-old dead. A female passenger was injured.
“The performance of the emergency responders was commendable. They acted with alacrity and professionalism,” Anderson said.
He said misinformation surrounding the emergency response has caused “significant angst” to the family and colleagues of Carr, who was attached to the St Andrew South Police Division.
On Sunday, Chairman of the Jamaica Police Federation, Corporal Rohan James, slammed the Government and the Jamaica North South Highway Company, following reports that emergency responders encountered difficulty accessing the toll road because they could not afford the fee.
According to James, police officers who responded to a distress call faced “impediments by the toll operator” and had to “lift the barrier to transport the victims to the hospital”.
But Anderson has sought to verify the events leading up to the location of the crash and what transpired after.
Below is the sequence of events outlined by Anderson.
9:51 p.m - Constable Carr enters Mammee Bay Toll Plaza
10:33 p.m - Call placed to Police Emergency Control Centre (PECC) Kingston. Caller said a friend (Carr) had met in an accident on North-South Highway
10:33 p.m - Call immediately transferred to PECC Area 2 for better assistance. Area 2 call tracker ascertained Carr's phone number from the caller and then made direct contact with Carr's phone
10:50 p.m - PECC contacted highway patrol. Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) at Unity Valley (south bound lane) responded
10:52 p.m - PSTEB unit was proceeding north bound to locate crash site
11:07 p.m - Crash site located by PSTEB team which called for ambulance assistance
11:35 p.m - St Ann vehicles F037 and F038 entered toll from Mammee Bay roundabout
11:41 p.m - F037 and F038 arrived at toll booth and spent 64 seconds
11:45 p.m - F037 and F038 arrive at crash site
11:58 p.m - F038 (pick-up truck) left the scene with Carr
11:59 p.m - F038 arrives at Lydford Toll Plaza and spends 2:48 minutes
12:02 a.m - F038 was back on the northbound lane of the highway heading to St Ann's Bay hospital
12:04 a.m - F018 arrives at Mammee Bay Toll Plaza. Spends 1:10 minute
12:16 a.m - Arrives at St Ann's Bay Hospital
“It took 18 minutes from the scene to the hospital. The other injured party was prepped by the fire department who had arrived on scene and was transported in F037 with the St Ann shift commander to the hospital subsequently,” the Commissioner said.
He said the operation took one hour and 43 minutes between the call to the JCF's PECC and arrival at hospital.
Anderson said the timing and responses indicated are based on the Force's vehicle tracking system, computer-aided dispatch at police emergency and preliminary findings of the investigations.
It is reported that about 8:00 p.m. Carr was travelling to work along the toll road when he reportedly lost control of the vehicle which overturned and landed in a ditch in the vicinity of Golden Grove.
Carr and his female companion were reportedly at the scene for some time before help arrived.
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