INTRODUCTION

Each year, there are approximately 1,500 incidents and 600 deaths occur involving vehicles that have gone off the road and
plummeted into the water.  Therefore, the public needs to plan for
these types of emergencies by (A) rehearsing the steps necessary for a
successful self-rescue/escape from a vehicle in the water, and (B)
having the rescue/escape tools readily available for use during this
type of emergency situation.  In addition, First Responder agencies
need to provide the training necessary to prepare their personnel to
respond to these types of incidents, and should provide the Personal
Protective Equipment and rescue tools necessary for a safe and
effective response to vehicles in the water.


SAFETY

Public service campaigns should be increased in an effort to educate the
public about the risks of driving through flooded highways; driving in
close proximity to bodies of water during snow, rain or other slippery
conditions; or driving over lakes, rivers or ponds that have frozen
over.  The following information should be included in these efforts:

•  It only takes 6” to 2' of water to float a vehicle off its wheels. 
Heed warnings about low water crossings and do not attempt to cross
flooded highways.

•  8” to 12” of new, clear, hard ice is required to drive a small vehicle onto the ice.  12” to 15” of new,
clear, hard ice is required to drive a medium-sized truck onto the
ice.  Ice that is snow covered,  ice that has been thawed or refrozen,and ice over moving water is typically weak ice and vehicles should not drive on ice under these conditions.

•  Wearing seatbelts will increase your chances of surviving a crash into the water.

•  If a vehicle leaves the road and lands in deep water, the vehicle's
float time at the surface of the water may be as little as 30 seconds,
or as much as 4 minutes.  Factors which effect the float time include
closed, sealed, and intact windows and weather seals.  Because of the
location of the motor in the front of the vehicle, the vehicle will
immediately assume an angled nose down position in the water.


ESCAPE

Because of the relatively limited time frame for self-rescue, the decision to
escape the vehicle must be made immediately.  However, because of the
angled nose-down position in the water and the pressure exerted by the
water against the doors, as well as structural damage to the vehicle as
a result of the crash, it may be extremely difficult or impossible to
open the driver's side and passenger doors of the vehicle in order to
effect an escape.  Therefore, the only avenue of escape may be through
the car door windows.

Studies have shown that the electric power may stay on for as much as 10 minutes.  Or, the battery can short out
immediately, making the electric window switches useless.  Therefore,
in order to escape through the car door windows, the occupants must be
able to punch out the windows.  Because the door windows, as well as
the rear window, are constructed of tempered glass, they will easily
shatter using an appropriate rescue/escape tool, such as a life hammer
device, or a spring-loaded window punch.  Many of the commercially
available rescue/escape tools also have an integrated seat-belt
cutter/blade that provides the ability to slice away a seat belt should
its release mechanism fail or jam.

The decision to escape the vehicle must be made as soon as the vehicle leaves the road and enters
the water.  If the occupants delay their escape from the vehicle and
the vehicle begins to sink, it may not be possible to effect an escape
until the water pressure has equalized inside the vehicle.  Also,
should the vehicle land in deep water, if the water depth is less than
14', the vehicle will usually come to rest on the bottom on all four
wheels, assuming there are no large rocks or other debris on the
bottom. In water depths greater than 14', the vehicle usually turns
turtle and lands upside down and on its roof.  Needless to say, being
upside down in a dark environment with water rushing in will totally
disorient the occupants of the vehicle.

We advocate the escape principles of SOS-GO!

S = Stay Calm, Assess the Situation, Slow your Breathing, and Plan Your Escapew
O = Open your Window(s) or Door(s)
S = Disengage your Seatbelt
GO = Get Out!

In order to accomplish this, these emergency procedures should be
rehearsed before the emergency occurs.  Use a body reference point to
identify and locate the door latch, window crank or electric window
switch.  As an example, the driver should practice finding the location
of these by touching his/her knee or hip with his/her left hand and
then move the hand laterally to the door.  A rescue/escape tool should
be immediately available for punching out the window and cutting
seatbelts.  This tool should be mounted on the sidewall of the driver's
side compartment, attached to the key ring, or located in some other
conspicuous location that can be easily accessed during an emergency. 
Consideration should be given to additional tools for the passenger
side and rear seat compartments as well.

If there are multiple occupants, once an escape route has been opened, each occupant should
hold hands in a human chain and escape through the same route.  If
young children are secured in car seats, based on a limited study, we
found that of those car seats we evaluated, they were sufficiently
buoyant to float a child on the surface of the water.  Therefore, the
car seat can be cut loose from the seat belt and removed from the
vehicle with the child still secured in the car seat.

There is no doubt that when a vehicle leaves the roadway and plunges into the
water, this would be an extremely frightening experience, especially
during the winter months with cold water posing additional risks and
hazards to the occupants.  But, by rehearsing the emergency escape and
survival procedures and having the rescue/escape tools readily
available, occupants can safely and rapidly self-extricate themselves
from this situation before the vehicle begins to sink.


RESCUE

Public Safety and Rescue personnel should be appropriately trained, protected,
and equipped to effectively and safely respond to vehicles in the
water.  Besides the availability of Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs),
Wetsuits, and/or Dry-Suits, rescue personnel should have the tools
readily available to punch in the car door windows or the rear window
in order to rapidly extricate a victim or multiple victims from a
vehicle in the water.  Spring-loaded window punches or life hammer type
devices with seat-belt cutters provide the rescuer with the opportunity
to gain immediate access to the victims and to cut away the victim's
seat belt for their immediate extrication from the vehicle.

As standard protocol, whenever a rescue agency is dispatched to respond to
a vehicle in the water, the dispatch of a wrecker should be automatic
in every community and emergency response system.  Upon arrival of the
wrecker, it can be used to assist in the stabilization of the vehicle
during and after the rescue of the vehicle occupants.


RESCUE/ESCAPE TOOLS

We evaluated a number of rescue/escape tools.  These tools are either
hammer-type devices (Life Hammer) or spring-loaded window punch devices
(Res-Q-Me).  Although both types of tools were effective in breaking
door windows and rear car windows, we found that the hammer-type
devices were more dependable.  Each of the spring-loaded window punch
devices we tested were effective in breaking the windows when they were
first removed from their packaging.  However, after several practice
drills, the points on these devices became dull which resulted in their
failure to work and break the windows.  Therefore, we caution against
using the spring-loaded window punches for any purpose other than for
breaking the windows.  Furthermore, using a spring-loaded window punch,
without appropriate hand protection, increased the chance of suffering
cuts on the hand than the use of the hammer-type device.  Regardless,
rescue personnel should always wear an appropriate water rescue,
neoprene, or fire glove when using any type of device to shatter door
windows or vehicle rear windows.


TEMPERED VS. LAMINATED GLASS WINDOWS

Several vehicle manufacturers are replacing side door windows with laminated glass, instead of tempered
glass.  This movement is being done to reduce vehicle ejection of
occupants during collisions, as well as a crime deterent.  However,
vehicles with laminated side door glass windows are extremely difficult
to escape from and the public is cautioned to check with the vehicle
manufacturer to determine whether their vehicles have laminated or
tempered glass.  Life Hammer type devices and spring-loaded window
punches may not be effective in opening up laminated glass windows.


About the Author:

Gerald Dworkin is a professional aquatics safety and water rescue consultant
for Lifesaving Resources Inc. (lifesaving.com) and is responsible for
aquatics safety, lifeguard, water rescue, and ice rescue training
curricula and programs for Lifesaving Resources Inc.  He also consults
as forensics expert in drowning and aquatic injury litigation.  Dworkin
is a graduate from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, and has
over 30 years professional experience in the fire, EMS, and water
rescue sector. He is currently a firefighter/EMT for the Harrisville
(NH) Fire and Rescue Department, and is on the Board of Directors for
the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (www.ndpa.org).  For more
information, visit www.lifesaving.com, or e-mail Gerry at
admin@lifesaving.com.

Lifesaving Resources Inc.
http://www.lifesaving.com
P.O. Box 905
Harrisville, New Hampshire 03450
603.827.4139