Kim

FACTS

An accident involving a County ambulance and a car occurred on January 14, 2007. Plaintiff’s car went off the side of the road going down the mountain from Wrightwood.

The Ambulance Firefighter/paramedic Nathan Armstrong saw heavy traffic in both directions when he went up to a ski resort in Wrightwood to pick up a patient. He explained: “We respond Code 3 to most — you know, most, if not I’d say 99 percent, of calls with lights and sirens to get there expediently.” With regard to the mode of transport, there were two options, by ground or by air ambulance helicopter. The decision was made to take the patient by ambulance, and the duration of the transport was estimated to be one hour. After the pick-up, Armstrong was in the back of the ambulance with the patient, a 15-year-old boy in good physical condition who was injured while skiing. The boy had a mid-shaft fracture of the femur on which a traction splint had been applied. Armstrong explained the purpose of the splint: “[W]hen . . . that bone breaks, those muscles are really strong and pull the bone ends past each other. So we apply that traction splint so it effectively pulls the leg back to its regular length to…