Clayton County (GA) Fire Department Lieutenant Dennis Ray Banks reported for duty on April 9, 2004, knowing it would be a challenging shift because his regular driver was on vacation. Engine 7’s replacement driver was a firefighter with 18 months of experience who had only recently completed the department’s recruit training. Station 7, one of the department’s busiest, averaged between 12 and 16 fire and EMS calls per shift.
As the station’s officers and firefighters slept, a county police officer who had stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation was attacked. He had been able to broadcast “Officer needs help!” and law enforcement officers thoughout the county responded.
 Photos by Thomas Foster, Warren Bond Photography. |
“Station 7! Respond to a police officer down on Homewood Drive! The officer’s car has crashed into a tree and he is pinned in the vehicle! Police units already on-scene are requesting an extreme rush!” Four minutes later, when Station 7 arrived at 0118 hours, Banks established “Homewood Command,” and his initial scene assessment was that this incident required additional resources (photo 1). He requested an additional engine company. The total units committed to the alarm were two engines, one truck company, one heavy rescue squad, one advanced life support (ALS) ambulance, one battalion chief, and one shift captain.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT AND CHALLENGES
In his initial scene assessment on arrival, Banks observed that there were no power lines down, the vehicle was not leaking gasoline or other fluids, no other vehicles were involved, all of the vehicle’s airbags had deployed so that secondary airbag deployment was not a concern, and there was only one victim. The vehicle’s suspension did not have to be stabilized because the rear wheels had separated from the axle, and the vehicle was resting on its frame.
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The driver’s side roof was crushed toward the interior approximately 16 to 20 inches, and the front corner above the windshield and the A post was almost level with the car’s hood. Additionally, the driver’s door A post had been pushed inward over the officer’s head and left shoulder. As a result, the officer’s head and upper chest were outside the vehicle sticking through the crushed door window frame. The driver’s front door had about 10 to 15 inches of intrusion, pinning the officer’s hips to the driver’s seat (photo 2).
Sergeant Lou Padovani, a 10-year fire service veteran and assistant commander of the shift’s heavy extrication squad, commented that the police car’s prisoner cage and roll bar saved the officer’s life; without it, he noted, “the roof would have completely crushed to the door handles.” The B post was behind the police officer’s head; the roof was in front of his face. Personnel used an hydraulic ram to push the roof up and away from the officer’s head and shoulders. The B post was gradually cut into shorter lengths using the hydraulic cutters, and the spreaders were used to remove the driver’s door. The dash was rolled to free the victim’s trapped legs. The spreaders served as the bottom attachment point for the ram to roll the dash.
During the extrication, two separate power units operated the cutters and rams. One generator stopped running and could not be restarted. Fortunately, because of the number of fire apparatus on-scene, a replacement unit was immediately available.
ASSESSMENT, TREATMENT, AND TRANSPORT
When Paramedic Sergeant Steve Hurd initially approached the damaged police car, he saw the officer’s head and shoulder protruding through the crushed door window frame; he appeared to be dead. However, the victim rolled his head up, opened his eyes, and said, “I’m still here!”
Initial patient assessment was as follows: The officer was semiconscious with active bleeding from a crushing injury to his left eye and left cheek. He had bruises over his ribs, but his bulletproof vest had absorbed and dispersed the collision’s impact. The officer reported he felt short of breath.
The extensive damage to the front doors and crushed roof panel prevented inserting a paramedic into the vehicle. Additionally, the police car’s prisoner cage prevented inserting a paramedic into the back seat to provide cervical immobilization. As a result, initial medical treatment had to be performed from outside the car, and the extrication crews had to literally cut and pry around the arms of paramedics who manually stabilized the officer’s head and neck.
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Personnel supplied oxygen to the victim using a rebreather mask and established two large-bore intravenous lines. After a few minutes of oxygen, the officer said his breathing was much easier. As the extrication sector gained access to the officer, it was able to make a more thorough patient assessment and provide more definitive medical treatment. Once the officer was freed from the wrecked patrol car, a hard cervical collar, neck rolls, and long backboard were applied (photo 3).
A sheriff’s deputy removed and secured the officer’s weapons, a container of pepper spray on his belt and two semiautomatic pistols-one on his gun belt and another in an ankle holster.
Hurd established early in the incident that the patient would require helicopter transport to a regional trauma center, and Banks requested Rescue Air One’s helicopter to respond. The chopper landed at a nearby middle school, and the flight paramedics were transported to the incident scene. The flight medics were able to immediately participate in the officer’s treatment, thus saving time in relaying patient information. The officer was placed in the ALS ambulance and transported to the landing zone, escorted by police and sheriff’s department cars. The police officer was hospitalized and has had additional follow-up treatment for his injuries but is expected to make a full recovery.
LESSONS LEARNED
• Clayton County’s personnel all have fire suppression and EMS certifications, a significant advantage in establishing sectors and assigning tasks.
• Some of the extrication team members neglected to wear eye protection during the incident. This violated department policy and should have been corrected on the scene. All personnel should use vision protection.
• All of the department’s ladders and quints are equipped with hydraulic rescue tools. In this incident, one of the hydraulic generators failed after a few minutes of operation. Fortunately, a spare unit was immediately available and placed into operation. The extrication would have been quite difficult if only one set of extrication tools was available.
• The time of the event (0118 hours) improved the unit’s response times. For example, the department’s heavy rescue squad had a 10-mile response. The county’s police officers and sheriff’s deputies offered maximum cooperation in establishing a landing zone.
• Whenever police officers are patients, always assume they are carrying more than one weapon.
• The fire department’s long-standing and collaborative relationship with our medical director was vital. The department’s paramedics are given maximum discretion to bypass the local hospital and transport the patient a greater distance to the regional trauma facility. The paramedics do not have to contact medical control when making these decisions. ■
