Lodi Nurses Raced To Scene Of Deadly Six-Car Crash That Killed Miranda Family

LODI (CBS13) — Nurses from a nearby medical office thought the deadly six-car crash that killed six members of a Lodi family was an explosion.

"I just came out of a patient's room, and heard what sounded like an explosion," said nurse practitioner Michelle Martin. "It rocked our building."

The crash that killed six members of the Miranda family happened just feet away from the hospital's urgent care center, sending Martin and registered nurse Yolanda Watt to the scene.

"It wasn't even a thought," Martin said. "We heard it and Yolanda and I took off at the same time."

The two began to help the children who were ejected from the Miranda family pickup truck.

"I turned and saw a little girl laying in the street, in the gutter," Watt said. "I went over and tried to help her. She had bleeding from the head as well. I was trying to do CPR on her."

As more rescuers arrived, Viviana Miranda, who was seven months pregnant, was rushed to the Lodi Memorial emergency room on the same block. A trauma team tried to save her and her unborn baby, but it was too late.

"We hoped for a better outcome," said ER nurse Allie Jacinto-Baumbach, "but unfortunately the outcome doesn't always match the efforts everyone puts in."

In addition to the expectant mother and her unborn child, her husband Luis and the couple's three children died.

"It hits you, especially if you have children or family," Watt said.

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