Oceanside CA— Units from the Oceanside, Carlsbad and Camp Pendleton Fire Departments handled a four patient major injury traffic collision (TC) on the I-5 freeway, south of Harbor Drive late last night, September 12th. At 11:19 PM, units were dispatched to a reported TC northbound (NB) on the I-5, north of Mission avenue. They arrived seven minutes later to find several vehicles on the right shoulder with all of the occupants advising they were uninjured. However, several individuals identified that there was a pick-up truck also involved in the accident that was unaccounted for. About this time, the Freeway Service Patrol reported they had come across another accident with multiple patients southbound (SB) on the I-5, south of Harbor Drive.
Units were re-routed to what was thought to be a different accident and arrived to find a full-size pickup with four victims inside straddling the center divider in the bushes. The vehicle had apparently rolled several times after being involved in the original accident and came to a rest on top of the center guardrails but partially sticking out into the southbound lanes.
Additional air and ground ambulances were requested to assist with the multiple patients encountered. Two of the ground ambulances took the most severely injured to Oceanside airport where awaiting air ambulances from both REACH and Mercy Air took them to Scripps La Jolla. An additional ambulance took the third and fourth patients by ground to Scripps La Jolla as well.
All patients were transported from the scene within 25 minutes of the arrival of the first fire department units.
Debris ejected from the pick-up truck bed as it rolled over were strewn across the southbound lanes, causing tire damage to nearly a dozen vehicles. Multiple tow trucks responded to assist with those vehicles.
CHP is investigating the cause of the accident.