Emergency personnel from Ozark County were kept busy over the three-day Fourth of July weekend with multiple serious accidents.
A review of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office log indicates emergency staffers and volunteers responded to 46 calls in the 72-hour holiday period.
The Ozark County Times’ review of the log indicates 22 of the calls were from residents who needed ambulance and medical first responders to help with conditions ranging from chest pain, stroke symptoms and “tick fever” to life-threatening accidents involving falls, vehicle crashes and fireworks injuries.
Officers also dealt with a combative woman who was attempting to jump off the Theodosia bridge.
Man seriously injured in diving accident
On Friday evening around 5, law enforcement was advised a man in his 30s had dove off the rock ledge above the Blue Spring swimming hole near Dora, about a quarter-mile from the campground at the North Fork Recreational Area, know locally as Hammond access.
The caller said the man had been pulled out of the spring and was going in and out of consciousness.
The Ozark County Ambulance crew traveled 28.6 miles from their base in Gainesville to the North Fork Recreation Area then hiked out to the spring and helped the other responders load the patient onto a backboard. The group then carried the man back out over the rugged trail to the ambulance, which transported him to a landing zone established for Air Evac.
The unidentified man was transported to Mercy Hospital in Springfield.
Side-by-side rollover accident reported
Friday evening at 7, a side-by-side rollover was reported at Cloud 9 Ranch.
The caller reported a man, also in his 30s, had hit his head in the accident. He was transported by private vehicle to an unidentified hospital.
Canoeist injured on the North Fork River
On Saturday at 5, Dora first responders were dispatched to a report of an injured canoeist.
The sheriff’s report call log says a woman received a head injury when her canoe tipped over in the North Fork of the White River.
The dispatcher was told the woman and her companion would float down to Blair Bridge to meet emergency responders. Instead, they exited the river at River of Life campground and cabins, about 4 miles upstream from Blair Bridge.
Ozark County Ambulance arrived and transported the woman to Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains.
Man injured in fireworks-related incident
Saturday evening at 10:45, emergency personnel responded to a fireworks-related incident in Price Place, a couple of miles south of Pontiac on W Highway. The reporting party said a 40-year-old man had been lighting off fireworks, and one had exploded in his face.
The unidentified man reportedly sustained injuries to his face and chest.
At that time, all area ambulances were responding to other calls, including those from Ozark and Howell counties, Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC) and Ava. He was taken by members of the Pontiac/Price Place Volunteer Fire Department to BRMC.
Woman injured in ATV accident
Just after midnight Sunday morning, emergency personnel responded to a call of a 46-year-old woman who had sustained a severe cut in her leg when she wrecked an ATV at a residence near Highways 160 and J and sustained a severe cut on her leg.
Again, no ambulances were available from Ozark County or nearby districts. An attempt was made to secure an ambulance from Taney County, where its crew reached out to Air Evac. However, Air Evac declined to fly due to foggy weather conditions.
Emergency personnel transferred the victim to BRMC from the accident scene, which was about 200 yards from Highway 160 in a field behind the Heritage Wood Products building on J Highway.
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