Crime & Safety

3 Jurisdictions Help Bring Critically Injured Driver To Safety After GW Parkway Crash

Rescue personnel from D.C., Arlington and Alexandria work together to transport critically injured crash victim to safety.

On Tuesday, D.C. rescue personnel visited the scene of Monday night's crash on the George Washington Parkway to retrieve equipment and assess the stability of the vehicle.
On Tuesday, D.C. rescue personnel visited the scene of Monday night's crash on the George Washington Parkway to retrieve equipment and assess the stability of the vehicle. (DC Fire and EMS)

ARLINGTON, VA — Rescue personnel from three local jurisdictions worked in tandem Monday night to rescue a person who had become trapped inside a car stuck on the embankment of the George Washington Parkway in Virginia.

The car, which had left the parkway near the second overlook before 6 p.m., was resting about 200 feet off of the roadway.

Arlington Fire & EMS and rescue personnel from the City of Alexandria Fire worked their way down the embankment to extricate the driver, according to posts on the Arlington Fire and EMS' official Twitter account. They then lowered the patient down to the Potomac River, where a D.C. Fire and EMS Fireboat was waiting.

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

A D.C. Fire and EMS Fireboat returned Tuesday to the place where D.C. rescue personnel had helped transport a driver who was trapped inside a car on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. (D.C. Fire and EMS)

The boat then ferried the patient to a nearby marina, where an ambulance transported them to the hospital to be treated for critical injuries.

On Tuesday morning, a D.C. Fire and EMS Fireboat returned to the scene to pick up equipment and assess the stability of the car, according to posts on the department's official Twitter account.

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

A spokeswoman with the U.S. Park Police confirmed on Wednesday that it was her department's responsibility to remove the car from the embankment. The extraction will involve a crane, which will lift the car back up to the parkway.

An Arlington County spokesman said on Wednesday there were no updates on the driver's condition.

A member of D.C. Fire & EMS checks the stability of a vehicle that had slid down the embankment off of the northbound George Washington Parkway on Monday night. (D.C. Fire & EMS)

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