Precarious Situation

Where do you start?

This is a situation that I have never had to deal with. I friend of mine sent me this picture and I thought it would be interesting to hear how you would handle this.

If you are the first arriving engine company or squad, what are your first courses of action and why?

What are your main concerns and priorities?

How will you stabilize this vehicle and what tactics and skills will you deploy to make the rescue and or extrication?

There is a lot here to go over, so take your time and list it all. I think there are some of you out there that we could all learn a great deal from on this matter so share your experiences and knowledge.

Stay safe and think scene safety on all calls.

http://firefightersenemy.com

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Permalink Reply by Station10Capt106 on February 9, 2010 at 10:49am

lots of things to do here. Shut down road, calm & reassure patients (hopefully they will understand the need to keep still and remain calm). Survey the scene to see what need to be done to secure & stabilize vehicles, find anchor points for ropes. Chock the wheels of the boat.

Secure lines to boat and then work down towards the vehicle. Have a repell team set-up and a belay line. Stretch an 1-3/4 line.

See what is below the scene and if needed clear that area.

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Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on February 9, 2010 at 1:30pm

I will echo the Capts. response with an addition to calling in a heavy tow truck (ASAP) to help with securing the vehicle. Depending on the incline angle, maybe a platform truck for a quick patient assessment? Definitely a call that will test your skills.

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Permalink Reply by Greenman on February 10, 2010 at 2:47pm

In California and other places with roads like this they have SOPs for these wrecks, since they occur quite often!

First, see if there are any victims in the vehicle. They may have been ejected on the roadway or they may be anywhere along the cliff face. Calm them, tell them not to move or shift their weight while other rescue is en-route. Stabilize the vehicle so it will not slide down the cliff. A winch off and Engine or Heavy Rescue holds it until the wrecker gets there. From there the Heavy Rescue/High Angle Rescue Team take over and extricate and evacuate the victims. This is where the Stokes litter gets a lot of use. Transport by ambulance when you can because setting up an LZ in the mountains is a royal pain, and may involve driving several miles to a suitable location anyway. Often victims are transported to a location with a permanent LZ because locations are so scarce. If there's a town nearby, they probably have an LZ at the clinic or hospital. Then the wrecker drags the vehicle up to the roadway, and traffic begins to flow again in a couple of hours.

Greenman