A delayed response to a biking accident downtown today, April 16, had concerned citizens at the scene wondering when Bainbridge medics would arrive.
At about 9:30 a.m. a 43-year-old man on a bicycle lost control, went over his handlebars, and suffered a head injury in the middle of Madison Avenue across from San Carlos Restaurant. An off-duty EMT with an emergency kit began treating the injured biker, who had not been wearing a helmet, while citizens directed traffic and called 911.
Fire Marshal Luke Carpenter explained that the medical response, which was just under 9 minutes, to the Winslow emergency was slower than usual because responders were handling multiple calls at the time.
The Bainbridge Island Fire Department (BIFD) received 911 calls at 8:54 a.m., 9:34 a.m., 9:40 a.m., and 9:59 a.m.
The first call at 8:54 a.m. came from the northeast area of the Island on Sunrise Avenue about a cardiac event. The second call at 9:34 a.m. was about the injured biker. It was followed six minutes later at 9:40 about a man hit by a tree while working on a tree removal crew on Madrona Way. While medics were treating the cardiac patient, biker, and tree removal worker, the fourth emergency was reported at 9:59 a.m. when a citizen walked into the Madison Avenue Fire Station seeking assistance for a medical problem.
Carpenter said that about 30 percent of the time when the BIFD is handling emergencies there is more than one happening simultaneously.
The BIFD transported the first three patients from Bainbridge Island by ambulance to Harborview in Seattle.
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