Yonkers MAB Responds: Wintry storm causes 24+ car pileup injuring 45 on Bronx River Parkway

YONKERS — Forty-five people were reported injured in a 24-plus car pileup on the Bronx River Parkway in Yonkers late Sunday night due to the wintry storm that swept through the lower Hudson area, police said.

The injuries ranged from serious to minor in the massive traffic accident near Desmond Avenue in Yonkers around 11 p.m. The accident was cleared early Monday morning by the Westchester County Department of Public Safety.

Patients were taken to Lawrence Hospital, St. Joseph’s Medical Center and to St. John’s Riverside Hospital.

“It was pretty amazing,” said Lt. Tom Murphy of the county police, whose officers were busy Monday morning clearing other accidents on the county parkways.

“I’ve never seen a pileup like this. It looked like a war zone,” Murphy said.

Yonkers police and firefighters teamed up with the county police along with Empress Ambulance to clear the Desmond Avenue accident Sunday night. Many people had to be extricated from vehicles, Yonkers police Lt. Patrick McCormack said.

Yonkers police used its large Medical Evacuation Transportation Unit for the first time Sunday night to transport 21 of the 45 patients to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers at one time, Lt. Patrick McCormack said.

The METU, the equivalent of 20 ambulances for basic life support, is the only such vehicle in Westchester, although Westchester County’s Department of Emergency Services are getting one in the first quarter of 2014. The New York City Fire Department has three and Suffolk and Nassau counties one each.

The buses are intended for basic life support transport for use at fires, weather-related emergencies, multiple triage situations, civil disobedience incidents and the evacuation of patients from nursing homes or hospitals.

“The METU was provided through federal funding and is considered a national asset,” Yonkers police Commissioner Charles Gardner said. “It can be deployed throughout our area for any type of large scale emergency. We are fortunate in this incident to have the ability to treat and safely transport a large number of people to an area hospial during some challenging weather conditions. The METU has already shown its usefulness in enhancing patient care.”