Ambulance a 'write-off' after early-morning collision with moose: EMS

Two Superior North EMS (SNEMS) paramedics received minor injuries after one of the agency's ambulances collided with a moose early Wednesday morning.

The crash occurred at about 5 a.m. on Highway 527. The paramedics were returning to their Armstrong, Ont. station after driving a patient to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre when the moose walked onto the road in front of them.

The collision caused heavy damage to the $140,000 ambulance, which an SNEMS media release said "appears to be a write-off."

"Both paramedics appear to have only received minor injuries, which is very fortunate considering the extensive damage the vehicle received, and the collapsing of the windshield onto the paramedics in the front of the cab at the time of collision," EMS chief Wayne Gates said in a written statement.

The media release notes that a Superior North EMS ambulance also collided with a moose on May 26, while transporting a patient along Highway 11, from Beardmore to the Nipigon hospital.

In that case, damage to the ambulance was only cosmetic, and the paramedics were able to continue transporting the patient to the hospital, the media release states.