Four patients remain in critical condition Tuesday night at Yale-New Haven Hospital from the charter bus rollover crash on I-95 Monday afternoon in Madison that injured three dozen passengers.
"It was a well-coordinated response to a horrific situation," Connecticut State Police Troop F Sgt. Robert Derry said.
The Madison 911 Emergency Communications Center thanked on Facebook the long list of agencies and ambulance companies that responded to the accident on the snowy highway.
"Our dispatchers working extremely hard, making the calls, and calling everyone and every resource the possibly could to get them here," Madison Police Sgt. Joseph Race said.
In total, 31 ambulances from shoreline towns and private companies transported injured passengers from the bus travelling to the Mohegan Sun Casino, Sgt. Derry said.
For most of the afternoon on Monday while I-95 was shut down by Exit 61, a majority of Madison’s public safety resources were tied up with the bus accident in their town.
"If we needed help, we have good relationships with our neighbors all around us," Sgt. Race said, "Thankfully, we didn’t have any of those situations yesterday."
Sgt. Derry said state police regularly train with their local law enforcement partners for serious emergencies with many victims. He said his troop participated in a mass-casualty drill in Durham last September.
"It was a mess, it could have been worse," Sgt. Derry said. "Luckily nobody’s life was lost as a result of this crash and I think a lot of that has to do with the response of all the public safety agencies."
Yale-New Haven Hospital officials thanked first responders’ efforts to make sure the many victims quickly received medical care.
"This was a potentially very dangerous and very life-threatening accident," Dr. Andrew Ulrich said at the Tuesday morning press briefing.
YNHH staff also goes through practice drills to prepare for an unexpected influx of patients, Dr. Ulrich said.
