While notifications to the family members of the five people aboard Friday night’s deadly crash of a Care Flight plane have been made, names have not been officially released. Friends of the Care Flight pilot, nurse, and paramedic identified them when they started Go Fund Me fundraisers to help their families during this difficult time.
“Our organization is grieving the loss of our valued team members and extends our deepest condolences to their families,” said Barry Duplantis, REMSA Health president and CEO, said in a Saturday afternoon press conference. “Our job as an EMS agency is to care for the communities we serve – and at this time – we also are caring for one another. We are holding our REMSA Health and Care Flight team members and their families close at this incredibly difficult time.”
The Care Flight plane that went down Friday night near the town of Stagecoach Nevada was on its way from Reno to Salt Lake City.
The flight nurse has been named as 32-year-old Ed Pricola, who, before moving to Care Flight last fall, worked as a charge nurse in the Carson Tahoe Emergency Department. Pricola is survived by Lauren, his wife of 12 years, his four-year-old daughter Riley, his two-year-old son Everett, and his golden retriever, Rip.
You can donate to Pricola’s GoFundMe by clicking here.
The Care Flight paramedic has been identified as Ryan Watson. Ryan loved being a flight medic, and brought a “positive attitude to every call and patient interaction he had,” according to Savanah Green, who organized his GoFundMe. Ryan is survived by his wife Kailey and their newborn Carter, who was born on Jan. 19, 2023.
You can donate to Watson’s GoFundMe by clicking here.
The Care Flight pilot has been identified as Scott Walton. Walton was an exceptional pilot who spent years as a flight instructor, and transporting patients through Care Flight was an “absolute passion and life’s mission,” according to his sister-in-law Katie Maguire Walton, who organized his GoFundMe. Walton is survived by his wife and three young daughters.
You can donate to Walton’s GoFundMe by clicking here.
“Our REMSA Health and Care Flight team remains focused on our people and their families,” said Duplantis. “Over the last 24 hours, we have made peer support and mental healthcare resources available to all of our team members 24/7 at our Edison Way campus here in Reno. Local and regional co-response and healthcare partners have been tremendously supportive and generous with offering assistance for ground, air and dispatch operations, as well as with mental health support. We are so grateful and appreciative of their support.”
A long procession line of law enforcement and other first responders escorted the remains of the deceased from the crash scene to the coroner’s office in Reno on Saturday.
Information on the patient and his wife who also died in the crash can be found here, and a fundraiser has been established.