PORTSMOUTH — A driver was transported to Rhode Island Hospital with what appeared to be “life-threatening injuries” after a head-on collision on Bristol Ferry Road this afternoon.

A rescue crew from the Portsmouth Fire Department spent nearly 25 minutes using hydraulic tools — the “Jaws of Life” — to extricate the driver following the crash, which happened shortly before 3:30 p.m.

Firefighters treated the driver during the extrication process before an ambulance transported the patient to the hospital.

The driver of the other car was cared for and transported by another ambulance to Newport Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the department said.

The Middletown Fire Department covered the station during rescue efforts and the Tiverton Fire Department responded to the scene with an additional ambulance, but cancelled prior to arrival.