Former EMS ambulance driver sued for February wreck

One of the several people injured in a February multi-vehicle crash involving an ambulance has filed a lawsuit against the driver accused to be at fault.

The lawsuit against former Jessamine County EMS ambulance driver Samuel T. Sparks, 19, was filed last week in the Jessamine County Circuit Clerk’s Office by Louisville attorney Vincent E. Johnson on behalf of Deana Whitmer of Nicholasville.

On Feb. 11, Sparks was on an emergency call when he ran a red light and collided with a gold truck headed eastbound on Ky. 169 that had a green light to cross the intersection, according to a police report.

Sparks’ ambulance was traveling north on U.S. 27 with emergency equipment activated as it approached a red light at the intersection of Ky. 169 when the ambulance struck the gold truck in the front passenger side and then spun and slid into another black truck and then a blue car, the report states.
Whitmer is listed as one of the occupants of the truck.

“It appears that unit one (the ambulance) did not exercise due regard at the intersection,” the accident report reads.

However, according to the Jessamine County EMS written general orders and directives, an ambulance only needs to “slow down as necessary for safety to traffic but may proceed past such red light or stop sign.”

The rule only applies when the siren is on; according to the police report, the siren was in use.
Two of the gold truck’s occupants, including Whitmer, were injured as well as the two occupants of the black truck. They were transported to a Lexington hospital. No one in the blue car was hurt.

Sparks was also injured along with fellow paramedic Amanda Moore and passenger Tina Honaker.
Jessamine County EMS director Jerry Domidion said he was unaware of the lawsuit against the former employee.

Sparks was not fired, but Domidion said that he had resigned for unrelated reasons sometime after the incident. Since Sparks is no longer employed, the EMS department is absolved of liability, Domidion said.

However, the Feb. 11 wreck is still under investigation and will go before the Kentucky Board of EMS Preliminary Inquiry Board in Versailles Sept. 19. A representative of the Jessamine County EMS is required to be present, KBEMS legal council Pam Duncan said.

Whitmer’s lawsuit stipulates that “as a direct and proximate result of (Sparks’) negligence” she was caused to suffer “severe and permanent physical injuries.”

The lawsuit goes on to state Sparks is responsible for the damage to her vehicle.

She is asking the court to find Sparks liable for past and future medical expenses, physical and mental suffering, lost wages, diminished capacity to work and the property damage to her vehicle.

The lawsuit also stipulates trial by jury and all fees and costs associated with those action.

There was no response filed by Sparks or his legal council as of Tuesday.