Submitted by Collin Patterson
At 2319 hours on June 9th, several Washington County emergency services agencies were called to a one vehicle rollover with two possible patients with serious injuries, located five miles south of Last Chance.
Southwest Washington County Fire Department and the Washington County Ambulance – Last Chance crew responded locally, as well as the Washington County Ambulance primary crew out of Otis and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. WY Communications lost contact with the reporting person and never did reconnect. Due to the suspected nature and severity of the incident, the Airlife Denver, Hugo based chopper was dispatched to the scene and their Centennial chopper was placed on standby.
SWWCFD and WCAS arrived at the suspected location to find no evidence of a crash. They drove several miles south into Lincoln County and north of Last Chance just in case the reporting caller was not aware of their location. The search was discontinued after about 20 minutes of searching nearly 20 miles of Highway 71 ditches with spotlights. It is not known if this was a hoax or a misinterpretation of events by a passerby on Highway 71.
If nothing else, this event was an unintentional “practice test of the Washington County Emergency Services response to a traumatic event,” says Washington County Ambulance Service EMT-Intermediate Jerry Morris. Citizens of Washington County, if this was a hoax, please keep in mind that a response of this nature and magnitude, especially in the dark poses safety threats to all responders.
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