CRASH VICTIM MAY NEED AID WITH EMOTIONS : PSYCHOLOGISTS WILL TRY TO HELP RECALL DETAILS OF LOMPOC COLLISION.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

For more than three hours Thursday, doctors worked to mend Rosa Hernandez's body, burned and broken by a fiery head-on collision near Lompoc that injured three other people and killed 11.

And with Hernandez's relatives possibly among the dead, doctors must try to heal her spirit as well.

A psychologist said that her emotional condition could be similar to those of war survivors who have watched friends die.

``She may indeed have some of those same memories, some of those same visions, loved ones burning up in those vehicles,'' said Jonathan Simons, a psychologist at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital where she was brought.

Hernandez, who recently arrived in Canoga Park from Mexico, underwent surgery to remove burned tissue. Doctors also implanted two metal plates in her badly fractured left forearm.

While Hernandez, 47, faces more surgery, psychologists will try to determine just how much she remembers of the Tuesday night accident.

Hernandez was one of 12 people in a van that, for unknown reasons, collided with a truck on Highway 1. The van's occupants were heading to the San Fernando Valley after selling corn in Santa Maria and Lompoc.

The crash killed eight people in the van and three in the truck.

A woman who identified herself as Hernandez's roommate said Wednesday that Hernandez had been riding in the van which also carried two of her sons and nephews.

Most of the dead, burned beyond recognition, have not been identified.

Sgt. Bill Byrne, with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's and Coroner's Department, said that identifying the dead has been difficult because most probably were Mexican citizens, recently arrived in California.

``We've got eight charred bodies in a van, and we're waiting for relatives to call,'' Byrne said. ``It's not the way we usually do things.''

The department, however, was able to identify two Lompoc residents who died in the truck. Michael Anthony Bucci, 42, and Charlotte Gwynn Wright, 29, were heading north after picking up an unidentified man at a Santa Barbara bus station. The man also died in the wreck.

In addition to Hernandez, two survivors remained hospitalized Thursday. David Perez, who suffered a torn spleen and broken femur, was listed in fair condition at Lompoc District Hospital. And a young man, whose identity was being withheld by Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital on the possibility that he may be a juvenile, remained in critical condition.

Simons said survivors of such horrific accidents often don't immediately remember the details, until they can face them emotionally.

``A patient may not remember that which she's not ready to remember,'' Simons said.

In Rosa Hernandez's case, Simons said psychologists would help her deal with her memories and to ease into her new situation, in which her life has suddenly been thrust into the hands of others.

Although hospital spokesman Larry Weinberg said that her injuries are still life-threatening, ``the chances for her recovery are good.''

Investigators, still unsure what caused the wreck, are eager to talk to the survivors. California Highway Patrol officers still have not determined which vehicle veered into the other.

``The whole thing's kind of sketchy,'' said CHP spokesman Officer Jim Everly. ``You've got a lot of burned people, and some survivors who don't speak English.''

Although police were also checking out tips that the van passengers had been visiting friends in the area rather than selling corn, Santa Maria residents said it was not unusual for vendors to hawk food on the streets.

``They come up from the big city, and they just get in the van and go around the Hispanic neighborhoods,'' said Mary Delgado, who runs a tax service in Santa Maria. ``And it's a good business.''