San Diego doctors are treating some of the 13 people who were injured Tuesday morning when an SUV and semi-truck crashed in Imperial County, killing 13 others.
California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said several patients were life-flighted to UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, both neighborhoods of San Diego, Wednesday for treatment in their trauma centers.
In a press conference held at about 11 a.m. Monday, officials said three people who were initially taken to El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC) were later transferred to UC San Diego Health in Hillcrest for their injuries. Those patients were in stable condition when they were transported, Cruz said.
UC San Diego Health added that one more person was in the process of being transferred to their facilities. The California Highway Patrol later confirmed that four patients had been taken to UC San Diego Health.
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"ECRMC is an affiliate of UC San Diego Health," the health service said in a statement. "ECRMC has access to tertiary and quaternary care services of UC San Diego Health."
The health service added that UC San Diego Health doctors are "embedded within the emergency department or ECRMC."
Dr. Borchardt and Dr. Dameff from the university’s physician team are at El Centro Regional Medical Center’s emergency room department treating several people who were hurt in the crash, according to the hospital’s CEO, Dr. Adolf Edwards.
“This was a major accident and we are taking care of them in the emergency room department,” he said in a video posted on the hospital’s Facebook page regarding the incident.
Shortly before 4 p.m., a spokesman for Scripps Health said that two people hurt in the crash were being treated by its medical-center staff.
"Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego has received two patients from Pioneers Memorial Hospital, stemming from today’s vehicle crash in Imperial County," Scripps Health PR manager Steve Carpowich told NBC 7 via an email. "One is a teen male who arrived late this morning by air, and the other is an adult female who arrived early this afternoon by air."
The crash was reported roughly around 6:30 a.m. just about 10 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border at Calexico, El Centro California Highway Patrol said. An SUV carrying 25 people and a semi-truck carrying gravel crashed for reasons still under investigation, CHP said. The ages of the SUV passengers ranged from 15 to 55.
A total of 13 people were killed in the crash, according to CHP. Twelve people died at the scene and another person died at a hospital.
Local patients were taken to El Centro Regional Medical Center, Pioneers Memorial Hospital and to Desert Hospital.
The conditions of the other patients were not immediately clear, but hospital officials said the injuries of those involved in the crash ranged from fractures to life-threatening injuries.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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