A Labor Day weekend outing turns deadly Saturday
A single vehicle accident in the ATV Park at Indian Mountain Saturday afternoon at 3:45 resulted in 7 children being injured, 2 adults fatally injured. Cherokee County Coroner Paul McDonald was called to the scene to pronounce the male driver of a Razor ATV deceased. An adult female passenger was critically injured and airlifted to a Birmingham trauma center where she succumbed to her injuries.
A total of 4 medical helicopters were brought to the scene with some victims being airlifted to Birmingham with one reported flown to Children’s of Atlanta. At least 3 ground transport ambulances were called to the scene.
Due to the remote location and the number injuries, it took more than 2 hours for the last subjects to be transported. The last 3 children were transported by ground ambulance to Atrium Floyd in Rome according to final report from Spring Garden Fire Chief.
Spring Garden Fire, Piedmont Rescue and Ambulance, Atrium Floyd EMS and the Cherokee County Coroner’s Office responded with assistance provided by Cherokee County EMA.
EMA Director Shawn Rogers declared the situation a “Mass Casualty” incident due to the number of patients and the complexity of the scene. Rogers tells WEIS Radio News, this declaration allows All responding emergency personnel to be able to perform certain actions outside the normal policies and procedures to make sure things are done to provide the best response coordination, on-scene operations, and recovery under the extremely difficult circumstances.
Cherokee County Coroner Paul McDonald tells WEIS Radio News the injuries and fatalities were as a result of two ATV’s colliding with the male driver of one speeding away from the collision site down a trail about 150 feet where it rolled over and struck a tree fatally injuring the driver. There were two passengers in the other vehicle but were not injured although the vehicle sustained significant damage. Witnesses and Bystanders used another ATV to roll over the crashed vehicle to rescue the entrapped victims.
All victims in the overturned Razor were from Rome. No names have been released at this time. The investigation into the incident continues by the Coroner’s Office.
