Patients scattered to hospitals across South Coast after multi-car crash

Two Toll Helicopter crews and five NSW Ambulance road crews were brought in after a multi-vehicle crash on the state’s South Coast this morning that left five people believed to be aged in their 70s in need of medical attention. Find out what happened here.

Emergency crews responding to reports of a multi-vehicle crash along the Princes Hwy on the state’s South Coast this morning said they were met with a “challenging scene”, with a man and a woman both believed to be aged over 70 needing to be airlifted to hospital.

Five NSW Ambulance paramedic road crews, three NSW Ambulance inspectors and two Toll Ambulance rescue helicopters were dispatched to the busy arterial road at Falls Creek after reports of a three-car crash at around 11.15am on Thursday.

On arrival, NSW Ambulance paramedics treated five patients all believed to be aged in their 70s.

One man was treated for head and abdominal injuries after being “ejected” from the vehicle, according to a NSW Ambulance spokesperson, before being transported by road to Shoalhaven District Hospital then flown to Liverpool Hospital in Sydney in a stable condition.

NSW Ambulance inspector Chris Lahene said paramedics, assisted by a critical care doctor paramedic aboard the Toll Helicopters, arrived to a challenging scene, with patients both trapped and ejected from a vehicle right in the middle of the busy two-lane highway.

Multi-vehicle crash at Falls Creek on the Princes Hwy. Picture: Ambulance NSW

“Paramedics worked with the aeromedical teams to triage and stabilise all the patients,” he said.

“This was a major deployment of emergency resources and these patients are incredibly lucky to be alive.”

A female patient believed to be in her 70s was treated for leg and shoulder injuries, before also being airlifted from the scene to St George Hospital in a serious condition. Another woman was transported to the same hospital by road with chest injuries.

A third female patient was assessed and transported to Wollongong Hospital in a stable condition.

The second male patient was treated for a head injury and transported by road to Shoalhaven District Hospital.

The crash closed both lanes of the busy road on Thursday, with traffic still being diverted at 3.30pm, according to Live Traffic NSW.