MANCHAC - Monday's deadly 168 car pileup was a logistical nightmare for first responders.

"I have not seen one this big with this many cars involved and this many victims," said Acadian Ambulance director of operations Porter Taylor.

Calling in help from across the state, Acadian Ambulance brought in a total of 18 ambulances and four supervisor vehicles.

"The help came as far from Lafayette and then we shifted up from the bayou, the Laplace area. We sent some units from New Orleans. We sent some units from the Slidell, northshore area, and of course the Baton Rouge area."

Getting to the patients who needed the most attention took a tremendous amount of on-the-spot coordination.

"It took a while to get there because we couldn't pull up to the scene. A lot of our medics had to get their ambulances and their gear and start walking along the side of I-55 to get to the victims. As you all know, the visibility was incredibly difficult. Of course we were trying to keep safety in mind. It is my understanding in both the north and south bound lane--the accident was spread out almost a mile on each side. We had fires on both sides, so not only did we have the vehicles and victims, we had hazardous materials."

In total, 46 patients were brought to area hospitals. The crash killed eight people.