The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department is crediting passersby at the scene of a single-vehicle crash just south of Mt. Vernon with helping to save a passenger’s life.
Chief Deputy Blaine Uhls says those at the scene of the accident on Route 37 just south of Interstate 64 called 9-1-1 to report the crash and that a passenger who wound up under the vehicle in a ditch full of water was unconscious. He reports under the direction of a telecommunications officer, CPR was administered and the breathing of 32-year-old Jamie Carroll of Beech Drive in Mt. Vernon was restored.
Jefferson Rural Fire took over the CPR on their arrival. They report the passersby had brought Carroll partially out of the water before starting CPR. The fire department then used a backboard to get her completely out of the creek.
Carroll was later transferred to SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon before being airlifted by medical helicopter to a St. Louis Hospital. At the last report, Carroll was said to be in stable condition.
The driver of the car, 24-year-old Dylan Wayne Bishop, also of Beech Drive, was not injured. He was arrested by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputies for driving under the influence and improper lane usage.
Uhls says it is not clear why Bishop had left the road with the car rolling over in the roadside ditch.
The crash occurred at 9:20 on Tuesday morning.
