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Santa Paula Fire and other emergency responders were on the scene of an incident Monday after a man suffering cardiac arrest lost control of his pickup truck, which hit a home at Hillview Estates.
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‘They saved a life’: SPFD responds to cardiac arrest, pickup into structure
February 24, 2017
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
A Santa Paula man that suffered a heart attack lost control of his pickup truck Monday afternoon and plowed into the residence of a 92-year-old woman at Hillview Estates.
According to Santa Paula Fire Assistant Chief Luis Espinosa, the resident escaped injury because she had just gotten up from a chair in front of the window where the vehicle hit the manufactured home. She was hospitalized for chest pains.
The unidentified driver of the pickup, an approximately 77-year-old male also living in Hillview, was also hospitalized after Santa Paula Firefighter EMTs revived him.
The February 20 incident occurred at 1 p.m. when the vehicle hit the home located at 975 W. Telegraph Road, Space 46.
Witnesses said the man was driving erratically, and, said Espinosa, “Apparently, there was a medical event prior to the collision” when the man lost control of the vehicle.
Santa Paula Fire Engines 81 and 181 were dispatched to a reported traffic collision with heavy rescue required: “The first arriving fire unit found the driver unconscious and in cardiac arrest,” and Espinosa said the “Next arriving units checked the interior of the structure and found a single elderly female occupant.”
The woman, in her 90s, told rescuers “she had just gotten up from a front room recliner,” located adjacent to the window and front of the structure that sustained the damage from the vehicle’s partial entry just prior to the collision.
She later was complaining of chest pain and was transported to Santa Paula Hospital to be checked.
Firefighters worked on the driver until they restored his pulse and breathing. Espinosa said there was “no evident trauma injures” to the driver resulting from the crash.
He was transported by ambulance to Community Memorial Hospital.
In all, there were 18 first responders on the scene including SPFD units and a support company, two ambulances, one chief officer, Santa Paula Police and Santa Paula Building & Safety. Ventura County Fire Engine 27 helped secure the utilities at the residence.
Board Up also responded to the scene to cover the damage and secure the home; Building & Safety inspected the structure and yellow tagged it for limited occupancy.
Espinosa estimated the damage to the residence was “about $30,000 structural; the main residence was intact, it was just the front door and window,” area that was damaged by the pickup.
The incident could have been fatal: “Fire did a great job of immediately taking care of the medical emergency on hand, they had a lot to do in a short amount of time.” “They saved a life,” said Espinosa.
