By Steve Bernocco
Firefighter safety is arguably the most important aspect of any vehicle extrication. Minimizing hazards and maximizing safety are the responsibility of the company officer in charge of the extrication scene. However, safety should be on all firefighters’ minds as they respond to any vehicle extrication.
RESPONDING TO THE ALARM
Safety begins on receipt of the alarm. After climbing onto the apparatus, all firefighters should remember to put on their seat belts. There is a common misconception in the fire service that since our engines and ladder trucks outweigh many of the vehicles on the road, firefighters do not need to wear their seat belts. This misconception kills a number of firefighters each year. Fire apparatus can and do get into accidents, and firefighters who are not buckled up do die in these accidents.
Apparatus drivers should make it a point to slow down when they respond out of the station on an alarm. Speeding to any emergency scene is unsafe and unnecessary. By slowing down, the apparatus driver gives the civilian motorists more time to react.
 1 Photos courtesy of author and Seattle (WA) Fire Department. |
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Apparatus drivers should make a habit of controlling all the intersections through which they drive. When approaching a red light, apparatus drivers should slow down to a stop and look both ways, making sure that everyone knows the apparatus is going through the red light. This is particularly important in urban settings, where buildings oftentimes block the view of the cross-traffic; in addition, sirens give no clear indication from which direction the emergency vehicle is coming.
By having firefighters buckle up on every run and having the driver of the apparatus slow down, 10 to 20 firefighters’ lives could be saved each year.
AT THE EXTRICATION SCENE
The apparatus driver should pull up behind the vehicle extrication whenever possible, keeping the apparatus at a safe distance but between the extrication incident and the flow of traffic. Department of Transportation employees, who work on the roads and have to deal with speeding traffic every day, always place their rigs between the flow of traffic and their work area. By doing this, they effectively transform their rigs into giant traffic barriers. Firefighters need to adopt this practice. How many times have you seen a fire engine on the freeway or expressway pull past the vehicle extrication scene and then park on the shoulder or side of the roadway? This leaves the vehicle involved in the extrication exposed to oncoming traffic, which is an unsafe practice.
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Whenever possible, block two lanes of traffic, particularly on roadways with more than four lanes. Blocking two lanes is critical to scene safety on most roadways and provides enough room for firefighters to work safely, well away from vehicles driving (oftentimes speeding) by the rescue scene (Figure 1). Of course, if you find yourself on a two-lane road, it is not always realistic to block both lanes of traffic. The point is to keep oncoming traffic as far away as possible from the firefighters performing the extrication. Do whatever it takes to protect personnel.
If the vehicle needing extrication is on a grade, make sure you place the apparatus uphill, away from possible leaking fuel, and have the local police, state patrol, or Department of Transportation vehicles block two lanes of the roadway, if practical.
Try to use the apparatus as a giant traffic diverter. Have the driver park the apparatus at an angle when blocking traffic, keeping the side housing your extrication tools, power cords, and power units toward the vehicle needing extrication (photo 1). If the extrication tools and power units are not stored on one side of your apparatus, it may be time to rethink where you carry them. Having them all on one side is a safety issue, since your driver can park this side toward the extrication and away from traffic. If you are riding on an engine company with a side pump panel, have the driver keep the pump panel toward the vehicle extrication, since the driver will need to use the pump for a protective line (discussed later) and must be safe from traffic.
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The Seattle (WA) Fire Department has had several incidents in which speeding vehicles have crashed into parked department apparatus on the freeways. These apparatus had blocked only one lane of traffic (photo 2). In one of these incidents, an officer was hit and severely injured. Again, block two lanes of traffic whenever possible.
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
All firefighters at any vehicle extrication should wear full personal protective equipment (PPE)—bunker gear, helmets, gloves, and eye protection. This is the minimum safety equipment for the personnel actually doing the extrication. When working at a vehicle accident where extrication is not needed, the minimum PPE should be a helmet, a reflective vest or bunker coat with reflective striping, and gloves.
Lay a charged protective line at any vehicle accident where victims are trapped. I specify that the line must be charged because I have seen incidents where this protective line was laid but not charged. What good is this dry line going to do if fire were to suddenly break out? It would be useless to the members and victims who might need instant protection. Firefighters holding this charged line should have their SCBA on in the standby position.
A dry chemical extinguisher should also be available to the members holding the charged line. Remember, a dry chemical extinguisher can put out a flammable liquid (think fuel) fire more quickly and effectively than a hoseline. Don’t overlook this valuable tool.
What if your department doesn’t have the staffing that the big-city fire departments do? What if your department responds to a vehicle extrication scene with two or three firefighters? Even so, lay a charged line and have a dry chemical extinguisher readily available (not sitting in a compartment on the apparatus). Place the charged line and the dry chemical extinguisher near the extrication operation, where you can quickly deploy them if fire breaks out.
In Seattle, the first-in engine company stretches a precautionary 13/4-inch line and pulls a dry chemical extinguisher off the apparatus. The ladder company blocks two lanes of traffic when practical (particularly on the freeways and main city arterials) and pulls out the extrication tools. Ladder company members perform the actual extrication, while engine company members not on the protective line assist with patient care and packaging.
SIZE-UP
On arrival at the extrication scene, the officer should immediately size up the incident and formulate a plan for a safe and effective extrication. This involves the officer’s walking around the rescue scene and visually sizing up the situation.
The first-arriving officer must ask a number of important questions, all of which must be addressed: What type of vehicle is involved? Is more than one vehicle involved? Is the vehicle’s engine running? How many victims are there? How many of the victims need to be extricated? Has the police or state patrol department arrived to provide traffic control? What type of safety restraint systems (air bags, rollover protection systems, seat belt systems) does the vehicle have, and where might they be located? What other resources might be necessary for this extrication? What is the overall plan?
The answers to these questions constitute a scene size-up. Of particular importance are the locations of the safety restraint systems. Many of these systems have capacitors that can remain charged for a long time after the automobile battery has been disconnected. Knowing the exact locations of these systems is important for several reasons. First, rescuers do not want to saw, cut, or spread through these systems, since doing so may activate the systems and cause serious injury. Second, rescuers do not want to be working in the impact zone of these systems. More than a few firefighters have been injured by air bags that have deployed during extrication operations.
Officers must spend some time stripping back the interior trim on the A, B, C, etc. posts to expose the air bag systems before allowing their crew to begin cutting into the vehicle at these spots. This “rip ‘n strip” technique is critical on today’s vehicles. Remember, air bags can be found almost anywhere in the vehicle: the seat cushions, the doors, the dashboard, overhead, etc. Know where these systems may be located and how to identify them.
After the size-up, the officer must formulate a plan and relate this plan to the crew responsible for the extrication. Specific assignments must be made, and tasks must be clearly understood. This involves a quick preextrication briefing. This briefing is important and need only take a minute or less, depending on how complicated the extrication is. By stating how the extrication is to be accomplished, the officer is making sure that everyone involved in the extrication understands what each member’s role is to be. Many companies have preassigned tool positions and tasks. Some companies have worked together for so long that they know what is expected of them and simply begin to work. However, a preextrication briefing is still necessary so everyone understands what they are supposed to do.
Experienced officers make this briefing short and to the point. I’ve worked for several excellent ladder company officers who could perform this briefing in 20 seconds or so; afterward, everyone on the scene knew exactly what they were supposed to do. The preextrication briefing is particularly important when there is a new member or a detailed firefighter on the apparatus who is either unfamiliar with the crew or with the specifics of vehicle extrication.
VEHICLE STABILIZATION
After sizing up the extrication scene, shutting down the engine of a running vehicle, and conducting a quick preextrication briefing, you must stabilize the vehicle. The last thing you want is to have the vehicle move or shift during extrication operations, which could be hazardous to the extrication crew and the victims. The object here is to provide a safe working environment for the extrication crew. Oftentimes, vehicle stabilization is as easy as sliding some step chocks under the vehicle’s rocker panels and chocking the tires (photo 3).
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At some scenes, vehicle stabilization will prove to be very challenging. Larger vehicles, buses, light rail cars, trucks, vehicles on steep grades, vehicles that are on their sides, and upside down vehicles are just a few examples of difficult stabilization situations. Use all the tools at your disposal for these situations: Use ropes to back-tie the vehicle, use long bars for bracing, build cribbing boxes, break out your air bags, and use your struts or jacks. Remember, vehicle stabilization solutions are limited only by your imagination.
Once you have stabilized the vehicle, someone must disconnect the power source. This means having a crew member get to the battery (or batteries). Sometimes accessing the battery is easy; other times it can be a challenge. By disconnecting the battery, you ensure two things: first, that possible fuel and fuel fumes will not ignite from a potential battery spark; and second, that the power source to the safety restraint systems is no longer supplying a charge (although the air bag capacitors may still hold a charge for quite awhile). On simple extrications, where stability of the vehicle is nothing more than placing a few step chocks, disconnecting the battery (or batteries) can happen simultaneously with stabilization.
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The best way to disconnect the battery is to first attack the negative battery cable. This means cutting out a three-inch section of the negative cable with a cable-cutting tool (photo 4). Why the negative cable? The negative is the ground, and it will not generate sparks when it is disconnected from the battery terminal with a tool, like the positive might. No sparks means no source for igniting spilled fuel, which is the safest option. Cutting out a three-inch section of the battery cable ensures that the battery cable cannot inadvertently move back and make contact with the battery terminal. Once you have cut the negative cable, you can then disconnect the positive side of the battery; again, cutting the cable is the quickest and safest method.
Remember, just because the negative battery cable has been cut does not mean that the safety restraint systems are no longer active. Some safety restraint system capacitors can hold a charge for up to a half hour. Treat all safety restraint systems as live, and work outside their deployment zones.
EXTRICATION
Firefighters might encounter an almost limitless number of extrication problems; I cannot cover all of them here. Instead, my goal is to have everyone work safely and efficiently at the extrication scene. What follows is a general discussion of extrication safety points.
Extrication often involves rescue tools—reciprocating saws, cutters, spreaders, rams, jacks, air chisels, long bars, and more. Before you begin cutting up a vehicle with a victim inside, check the doors on both sides of the vehicle to see if you can open them manually and get the victim out of these doors. You would be surprised at how much work you can save yourself by simply checking the vehicle doors.
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If you check the doors and cannot open them manually, where should you begin to extricate the victim? Protecting the victim with a tarp is a good first step if glass is going to be shattered or sawn through. This step takes only a few seconds but provides the victim with a bit of protection. Also, if the victim is conscious, protecting him with a tarp does not allow him to witness the actual extrication, which might increase his anxiety level. If you have the staffing, place a firefighter under the blanket with the conscious victim to provide reassurance and C-spine protection (photo 5).
Once you have covered the victim, proceed to take out any door glass with a center-punch tool, making sure you are wearing gloves.
You must operate rescue tools, such as reciprocating saws, cutters, and spreaders, in a safe manner at all vehicle extrication scenes. This means the firefighters operating them must know how these tools work, what these tools are designed to do, and how to use them correctly. This is common sense, but injuries have occurred at extrication scenes because firefighters did not know how to work the rescue tools properly.
Company officers must monitor the firefighters who are using the rescue tools. Officers must make sure that firefighters are working in teams of two and that the rescue tools are being operated correctly. Remember, these tools can be extremely dangerous and should only be operated by crews trained in their use. Training is the key to safe and efficient vehicle extrication.
Firefighter safety is paramount during any vehicle extrication. The officer is responsible for making sure that the extrication scene is as safe as possible. This responsibility includes parking the apparatus in such a way as to protect the firefighters performing the extrication and completing a size-up and preextrication briefing.
Firefighters must train on safe extrication techniques to work safely at the rescue scene. Officers, chief officers, and training officers need to provide frequent scenario-based, hands-on training opportunities to their crews. Go to your local wrecking yard and procure some totaled vehicles for your crew. Have the wrecking yard place the vehicles on their sides, upside down, or in any configuration you want. Then have your crew run through an extrication scenario. Make sure you teach personnel how to work safely at the extrication scene.
STEVE BERNOCCO is an 11-year veteran of the Seattle (WA) Fire Department and a lieutenant assigned to Ladder 10.
