A bus accident on Nov. 12, 2024, resulted in the injuries of ten U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers and two civilian drivers on a New Jersey Turnpike in Runnemede, Camden County. Immediate and abundant care was taken in response to the aftermath of the crash.
Twelve Soldiers from the 988th Quartermaster Detachment, based out Rockville, Maryland were traveling from their Army Reserve Center to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey for a brigade-wide training exercise when the bus experienced mechanical failure and stalled in the right-hand lane of the turnpike. Tragedy struck when a semi-truck collided into the rear of the bus.
Sgt. 1st Class Brooklyn Brooks, traveling in a van with another Soldier from the 988th QM DET’s higher headquarters, the 398th Quartermaster Battalion, arrived on the scene moments after the impact.
“My body started working before my brain, I just hopped out of the van” Brooks recounted. “As I got closer to the crash, I started seeing Soldiers on the ground. And as I approached, I saw the patch and realized they were our Soldiers.”
Despite the danger of leaking fuel, she immediately went into action, mobilizing the uninjured Soldiers to help the injured and evacuating everyone from the scene of the accident to the safety of the grassy shoulder. With the help of another NCO, Sgt. 1st Class Brooks distinguished herself by carrying an unconscious Soldier to safety and coordinated the efforts of her fellow Soldiers to provide aid and information to emergency medical services upon arrival.
All injured Soldiers were transported to Cooper University Hospital near the crash site per Brooks’ request to keep all Soldiers together. Once there, individuals were separated into the emergency room or trauma bay according to the severity of their injuries. Those triaged at the emergency room, eight individuals in total, were cared for and discharged within eight hours. Soldier care continued after discharge and into the early hours of the morning by the Section of Military, Diplomatic, and Field Surgical Affairs (MILDAF) at Cooper University Hospital. The team went above and beyond to provide ongoing medical support, food, and accommodations at the training center embassy for Soldiers and their families. Sgt. 1st Class Brooks also received a key to an apartment at the embassy to ensure leaders could visit the Soldiers at any time during their hospital stay.
Cooper University Hospital has the first training center of its kind in the U.S. for military medical personal, titled the Army Medical Department Military Civilian Trauma Team Training Program. Numerous active-duty military doctors and nurses stationed at the hospital’s trauma center work and train on site to continually hone their lifesaving skills in an environment with more emergency care patients than typically seen in Army hospitals. The training program schedules the trauma team together every three weeks, which coincidentally also landed Nov. 13, 2024. As a result, the injured Soldiers received top-notch care from military doctors and professionals.
Richard Heffernan, the Field Logistics Operations Coordinator described the day’s events as “a perfect storm of Soldier care in the face of a catastrophe.” He continued, “it was an honor to be there for them.”
As of the latest reports, only one Soldier remains hospitalized. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Eutsler, expressed his appreciation for the actions of the medical responders, stating, “Their assistance was invaluable. Everything proceeded as smoothly as possible in a worse-case scenario. They removed the stress from a stressful situation.”
As military personnel and medical professionals continue to monitor the Soldiers' recovery, the response to this incident highlights the commitment and support shared among Soldiers and their communities.
