TRAPPED IN A SWAMP
RESCUE/EMS
A loaded chicken truck ran off the road into an Alabama swamp. Crates of live chickens had to be used to form a “bridge” to the trapped driver.
A bolt of lightning was indirectly responsible for the most difficult rescue operation in the history of the Luverne, Ala., Rescue Squad. The lightning struck a tree in Burgundy Swamp, causing the tree to collapse across County Road 11. County 11 rises 12 to 15 feet above the surface of the swamp. There are 10-foot-wide culverts under the road for the small creeks that feed the swamp.
A chicken truck hauling 5600 broilers crashed into the fallen tree at about 12:40 a m. last April 26 and plunged into the swamp near a culvert. A passerby reported the accident to the Montgomery State Trooper officer at 1:12 a m. The caller said he thought the driver was dead. The location is 30 miles from Luverne, just south of Alabama 97. The Luverne Rescue Squad responded with two units. The Rural Highland Home Volunteer Fire Department sent two fire apparatus.
I was the first on the scene at 1:47 and found this situation: The truck was submerged in the water at a 45-degree angle, with only the upper one-fourth of the cab above the water. The trailer’s fifth-wheel pin had sheared, causing the trailer to slide into the cab. This pushed the floorboard of the tractor upward. The diesel fuel tanks had ruptured and fuel was floating on the top of the water. The binders holding the chicken crates had broken, scattering crates and live chickens everywhere. The water was rising due to the recent rains. But the driver was alive!
I immediately called for two large wreckers, a power generator and boats. With the help of the bystanders, we submerged crates of live chickens to form a sort of pontoon to reach the driver. The 58-year-old driver was conscious and in severe pain.
The first step in extrication was to remove the top of the truck using the cutter on the hydraulic rescue tool. The diesel fuel made work treacherous because all foot and hand holds were oily and unsure. After the top was removed, the driver’s seat and steering wheel presented the most difficult problems. The truck’s floorboard pinned the driver’s legs against the dash. Even with the top off the truck, the driver was pinned below the water line. The work under water was by touch, resulting in many trial and error moves of the rescue tool.
The wrecker arrived about 45 minutes into the operation. I instructed the wrecker operator to tie one boom to the trailer and the other to the cab. The wrecker pulled the trailer out of the cab. The second boom pulled the cab top completely back, consequently raising the cab about a foot out of the water. As a stroke of luck, there was a diesel mechanic passerby. The mechanic was a great help in dismantling the driver’s seat and the steering column.
Time was our enemy. The driver was in shock with traumatic injuries beyond our reach under the water. Coats and raincoats proved useless as shelters; diesel fuel penetrated right through them. Many rescuers were worried that the driver would die before we could get him out.
Gasoline for the rescue tool began to run low, so a siphon hose was used to get gas from rescue vehicles.
After nearly two hours of work, and over three hours after the accident, the driver was freed.
Our only mistake was placing the victim on a backboard. He was saturated with diesel fuel and nearly slid off the board when placed in the boat. The driver stopped breathing in the boat but was revived in the ambulance en route to the hospital. Despite two broken legs, a broken hip, broken shoulder, and crushed ribs, he survived the ordeal.
Two lessons were learned: A gallon of extra gas will not last long in extended use of the hydraulic rescue tool. Then, any person soaked in any kind of oil or chemical should be strapped in a basket stretcher before being moved.
