Truck Plunges Into Creek Bed, Traps Driver

Mounting a 90-minute rescue effort that enlisted everything from massive tow trucks to an airborne surgeon, county firefighters Wednesday pried a man from the tangled wreckage of a flatbed truck after it plunged down a steep canyon road into a 15-foot-deep creek bed near Cook’s Corner north of Mission Viejo.

The truck driver, Eustaquio Chavez Gonzalez, 39, of Whittier, was in serious condition with multiple fractures and internal injuries at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, a hospital spokeswoman said.

When firefighters arrived, the three-axle truck, which was loaded with scrap lumber, was wedged nose-first into the eastern embankment of Alisos Creek.

Tow Trucks Called In

After unsuccessfully trying to free Gonzalez with a hydraulic prying device and other equipment, rescue crews were forced to call in a pair of heavy-duty tow trucks to pull the flatbed away from the creek bank so they could reach the severely injured driver in its mangled cab.

As the rescue effort stretched into its second hour, authorities took the unusual step of ferrying in a trauma surgeon by helicopter in case Gonzalez required more intensive medical attention than that normally provided by paramedics.

“It was one of the more complicated extractions I’ve been to in 10 or 12 years,” said Battalion Chief Bill Dean of the Orange County Fire Department. “It really required a maximum effort by all involved to get that man out of that truck.”

The episode unfolded about 9:30 a.m. when Gonzalez headed down Ridgeline Road with a load of scrap lumber from a nearby construction site.

Faulty Brakes Believed Cause

As he steered down the steep route, the truck’s brakes apparently failed, according to Officer Ken Daily, a California Highway Patrol spokesman. The flatbed careened through a red light at El Toro Road, nearly smashing into a car, then plowed through a pair of telephone boxes, knocking out service for several hours to more than 100 nearby homes.

It finally flew into the creek bed and rammed the opposite embankment, burying the blunt nose of the vehicle and pinning Gonzalez inside, authorities said.

After county firefighters were unable to free the trapped truck driver with hand-held extraction equipment, officials called in the county Fire Department’s heavy rescue vehicle, a jumbo-size tow truck outfitted with a variety of winches and other equipment.

Later, another vehicle, this one owned by a truck-towing firm in Santa Ana, lumbered to the scene to help pull the flatbed far enough up the creek bank that rescuers could reach Gonzalez, authorities said.

In the meantime, paramedics were watching the minutes tick away as Gonzalez remained trapped in the truck. Dean said medical personnel were particularly concerned when the time-consuming rescue operation passed the so-called “golden hour,” the pivotal first 60 minutes after an accident when odds are best that a life can be saved by trauma surgeons.

A Lifeflight helicopter was already on the scene, but when paramedics grew worried that Gonzalez was losing too much blood, the chopper was dispatched to Mission Hospital to get additional help.

It returned carrying whole blood and Dr. Ralph Maeda, a surgeon at the hospital’s trauma department. Dean said Maeda was flown in “just in case” more intensive medical efforts were needed.

“Blood is not normally carried or administered by paramedics,” Dean explained. “We were concerned that if we couldn’t get him out quickly, we’d have to do something above and beyond the normal paramedic procedures.”

When the tow trucks pulled the flatbed away from the embankment, firefighters forced open the door on the driver’s side and plucked Gonzalez from the wreckage. He was then flown to Mission Hospital with Maeda and paramedics providing care along the way.

“He hung in there,” Dean said of Gonzalez. “He was a trouper.”

Dean credited “a real team effort” among paramedics, firefighters, the Lifeflight helicopter crew and medical personal at Mission Hospital for saving the life of Gonzalez.

“Our guys really worked hard, the Lifeflight team worked hard and the base hospital gave some really good instructions,” Dean said. “It was just a real good cooperative effort. Everything fell into place.”