FORT WALTON BEACH - The driver of an Okaloosa County EMS ambulance passed out before he caused a five-vehicle crash at Mary Esther Cut-Off and Wright Parkway on Tuesday evening, according to police.
David M. Keller, 40, of Baker, was talking with his partner as he drove the ambulance south on Mary Esther Cut-Off about 7 p.m. when he began to cough, according to the Fort Walton Beach police crash report. Keller told officers he passed out and his partner confirmed that.
The ambulance hit two vehicles, sending each one into another vehicle, the crash report states. Keller and a driver and passenger in one of the vehicles were taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
The accident investigation is ongoing.
Keller must be cleared by a medical evaluation before he returns to work, said Al Herndon, the county’s EMSchief.