SYNOPSIS

On May 21, 2023, at approximately 10:10 a.m., I, Ute Lake Superintendent, received a call about a PWC accident near the Ute Lake Marina. Once on scene I encountered a female subject with lacerations and complaining of back pain. Female subject was transported to the Logan Ball Fields for AeroCare lift to Northwest Amarillo Hospital.

NARRATIVE

On May 121, 2023, at approximately 10:10 a.m., Central Dispatch paged out Logan Ambulance to the Ute Lake Marina in reference to a personal watercraft (PWC) accident. I, Park Superintendent, responded to the call from the Ute Lake State Park Visitor Center to the Marina. I arrived at approximately 10:13 a.m. I confirmed the location incident and relayed the information to Central Dispatch and Emergency Medical Service, enroute.

The injured party was sitting on the stern deck of the witness vessel. Vessel was tied off at the gas dock of the marina. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) was on board securing Subject1’s head and neck. She was complaining of lower back pain and pain in her right hand. I asked Subject1 if she could tell me what happened. Subject1 stated that while she and the other PWC in her party (PWC A) had been heading toward the boat ramp to load up. She had slowed down her (PWC B) while the operator of (PWC A) did not. Subject1 did not see how it happened, but (PWC A) hit her (PWC B) in the stern while she was sitting on it, ejecting her from the PWC, into the water.

Logan Ambulance arrived at approximately 10:40 a.m. Subject1 was placed on a backboard, loaded in the ambulance and transported to the Ute Lake baseball fields helicopter landing zone, then transported by helicopter to Northwest Hospital in Amarillo, Texas.

The operator of (PWC A) was a 60-year-old male. When asked about what happened, Operator1 stated that he had been following the path of (PWC B). He turned his head to look at a passing vessel. By the time he turned his head forward, the operator of (PWC A) slowed down too much. He came off the throttle and was unable to turn to avoid a collision. I asked Operator1 if the bow of his PWC struck Subject1 during impact.  He told me he did not think so, but wasn’t sure. He stated that just before impact, Subject1 stood up on the PWC prior to being ejected into the water.

The operator of the witness vessel stated that she witnessed (PWC A) going too fast and playing too close together with (PWC B) before impact with one another. The following day, 5/22/2023, I was able to contact Operator1 concerning the condition of Subject1. He stated that she had sustained a broken bone in right hand and three fractures in her lower back, but she was up and walking around the morning of 5/22/2023.

 Operator1 was cited for Prohibited Operations-(reckless) (66-12-11) (citation).

Ute Lake
Logan                         