Ambulance driver dies, causing Silver Spring crash

A fatal heart attack may have led to the crash of a Silver Spring Ambulance and Rescue ambulance early this morning.

Township Emergency Management Coordinator Jim Hall said Barry John Nagle, 66, of Mechanicsburg, apparently suffered a heart attack that caused him to lose control of the ambulance. Attempts to resuscitate him failed, Hall said.

One EMT was injured in the crash and was taken to Penn State Hershey Medical Center for treatment.

Michele Parsons, a spokeswoman for the Cumberland County Department of Public Safety, identified the injured EMT as George Weimer, 88, of Silver Spring Township. He has some rib injuries and trouble breathing, she said, but as of this afternoon was not in critical condition, being placed in the intensive care unit of Hershey Medical Center.

State police at Harrisburg said Nagle was driving the 1995 Ford E-350 ambulance north on Interstate 81 at mile post 59 in Hampden Township at 2:28 a.m when it left the road and traveled about 950 feet before hitting a ditch and stopping. Nagle was wearing a seat belt, police said. Police said there were three other people in the ambulance with Nagle, including a patient, none of whom were injured in the crash. Parsons said she doesn’t have their names but understands that two of them were nurses from the hospital the patient, apparently a female, had come from.

The patient was originally on an ambulance from Franklin County, Parsons said, but the crew of that ambulance called dispatch to report that they had a non-injury, one-vehicle accident and needed someone to pick up the patient. Silver Spring responded and made it several miles down the road before Nagle veered off the road.

Someone from the Franklin County ambulance helped Weimer try to revive Nagle, Parsons said. The county dispatched three other ambulances to the scene, she said, and the patient was sent on her way to the hospital she had been headed for.

“As you can imagine, there’s a lot of mixed emotions (among Silver Spring emergency crews),” Parsons said. She said those who worked with Nagle described him as “a good man” who was always eager to come in for his volunteer shift.