Recently, Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue responded with their partners at Costa Mesa Police Department to the report of a traffic collision located on Fairview Drive, near a Stater Bros market.
The first crew to arrive on scene, Costa Mesa Engine 82, led by Fire Captain Mike Ruhl, quickly upgraded this incident to a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI). Incidents are upgraded to MCIs when a Company Officer or Chief Officer on scene determines the initial responding units are unable to handle the conditions (i.e., total number of patients) found once on scene.
Once the incident was upgraded to an MCI, Costa Mesa Emergency Communications Center (ECC/Dispatch) dispatched the additional units requested by ME82 Captain, who also had established the incident command on scene.
The responding units on scene included Costa Mesa Engine 82, Costa Mesa Rescue 84, Costa Mesa Engine 83, OCFA Truck 76, and three ambulances, along with Costa Mesa Battalion 8, BC Chris Coates.
Any traffic accident can be a frightening and even traumatic experience for those individuals involved, especially when they are children. CMFR crews are not only medically responding to those directly affected by the accident due to injuries, but also integrate a high level of interpersonal and human touch to those affected through being a part of or seeing the accident.
One of the core values of Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue is “compassion” and the ability to thoughtfully show and share compassion, care, and strength for those involved in these challenging moments is something each Costa Mesa fire family member strives to carry out every day.
As demonstrated in these candid photos, Costa Mesa Firefighter/Paramedic Morgan Cain shines bright and represents our best, removing his helmet and sitting alongside the child to console, calm, and treat her, as she was witnessing her family members being treated and prepared for emergency transport.
This MCI concluded with four total patients being transported to local hospitals without any significant injuries.
The Costa Mesa Fire Department did not indicate what caused the collision. The car in question ended up on a curb and appeared to have damage on the right passenger side.
