A three-year-old Saltspring Island girl has died but her five-year-old sister is expected to survive following a collision Tuesday between a car, driven by the girls’ mother, and a commercial van on Saltspring.
The mother is Naomi Singh, 36, but the names of her children and the other driver have not been released.
The crash occurred just before 2:30 p.m. in the 2300-block of Fulford-Ganges Road.
The four-door sedan was travelling north and the van was travelling south when something caused the car to spin. It was struck from the rear by the van, said Sgt. George Jenkins of Saltspring RCMP.
Jenkins was the first emergency responder to arrive at the crash and he called for an air ambulance.
Their three-year-old girl was taken to B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver where she died Tuesday evening. Her sister was flown to Victoria General Hospital. The mother was taken first to Lady Minto Hospital in Ganges, then transferred to Victoria General Hospital.
Every effort is made in cases like this to keep family members together, said Dr. Stephen Wheeler, medical director of critical care with B.C. Ambulance Service.
He was unable to speak on this case but said B.C. Children’s Hospital has the resources to treat critically injured children but does not admit adults.
Victoria General Hospital doesn’t have neurosurgeons who specialize in pediatric care, he said.
“If you have multiple casualties, there’s only one resuscitation room for pediatrics in Victoria General,” Wheeler said. “If you want to maximize the care, it’s best to split [the children] up.”
The van driver initially appeared to be unhurt, other than feeling shock, but he later complained of a stiff neck and was taken for treatment.
The roads were slick from rainfall at the time of the crash, Jenkins said. The collision occurred near a sharp bend in the road.
“I responded with emergency equipment and I found, on three occasions, I was starting to lose traction,” said Jenkins, who had been called to the accident scene from a suicide that involved a firearm.
Investigating car crashes involving children is extremely difficult, he said.
“Oh my God, it’s horrific,” Jenkins said. “It’s just awful to see a three-year-old in that condition.”
An RCMP collision analyst was brought in from Campbell River and the scene was examined for several hours on Tuesday. The wet roads mean that skid marks, which can be important indicators of speed, don’t show up.
Basic information was gathered from the drivers but it can take some time for people who go through traumatic events to remember the details, Jenkins said.
“It sometimes takes days to put it back together. We know in police work when you have a critical incident it takes a while for your memory to reconstruct what happened.”
Saltspring Fire Department members and B.C. Ambulance paramedics involved in the crash were set to undergo counselling, Jenkins said.
“The life of an emergency responder is not easy,” said Jenkins, a 21-year veteran of the RCMP who has been at the scenes of “several hundred” sudden deaths.
“I think sometimes we put order into a disorderly situation and try to manage it the best we can. “I’m just going to keep it together today and then I’m going to go home and cry.”
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