BY DAVE DALRYMPLE
Although many of the tool evolutions we employ today have not changed much over time, we have found it necessary to add and alter tool evolutions to overcome some vehicle technology concerns. Let’s focus on the nose/fender area of today’s vehicles (photo 1). This area is very important because more strategic cutting is needed to assist in making space to expedite operations.
Today’s vehicles are designed to readily absorb crash energy, dissipating and redistributing throughout the vehicle’s structure. Although this saves lives and helps reduce injuries, vehicle construction incorporating energy-absorption principles significantly affects extrication tool operations. For example, the addition of the dash reinforcement/crash beam has made dash relocation and space making difficult, and energy- absorbing design with crush zones makes traditional dash-roll evolutions problematic (photos 2, 3). Dash-lifting evolutions offer a better solution in today’s vehicles, but even these tool operations can be difficult with certain vehicle makes or if the vehicle is severely damaged. To make these dash-displacement operations work better and give the rescuer the space needed, consider additional strategic cutting as well.
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As part of strategic cutting, rescuers need to create a vertical relief cut into the energy-absorption or crush/crumple zone. This vertical relief cut allows personnel to isolate the dash when this cut is used in conjunction with the cuts of a dash-displacement evolution. This isolation enables the rescuers to displace just the dash/firewall area without fighting the rest of the vehicle structure.
Where should these cuts be placed? First, rescuers should be working on the nose of the vehicle on the same side as the victim to be extricated. The cut should be placed vertically in line with the vehicle’s suspension or toward the passenger compartment. This cut allows the dash to pivot or hinge when lifted or rolled without the vehicle structure impeding displacement.
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Fender hinge. The vehicle’s fender is an obstacle to dash lifting or rolling operations. The fender hinge evolution is a possible solution. First, reach into the wheel well and find the vehicle’s front suspension. Using the hydraulic spreader, squeeze the fender vertically in line with the front suspension or slightly toward the passenger compartment (photo 4). Squeezing the fender narrows the fender’s profile so you can start to make the vertical relief cut (photo 5). More than one cut might be needed, since you need to cut through the fender before you can sever the crush zone. The cut needs to be a little wider, too, so you do not pinch the crush zone and bind up. This evolution is effective, however, if you make some additional strategic cuts and spreads; it will make dash evolutions and door displacements easier as well. This basically focuses around removing or displacing the fender (photo 6).
Fender strip. In this evolution, the fender is displaced. Starting at the point where the fender, door, and A post meet, place the hydraulic spreader tips and begin a spreading operation (photo 7). The goal is to move the fender out and away from the vehicle, directly exposing the crush zone, the door hinges, and the wiring knockout hole in the dash area. With all these items exposed, tool access for other displacement evolutions is speeded up and makes accomplishing the vertical relief cut easier.
Fender peel. Another way to accomplish this is a fender peel evolution. As with fender hinge evolution, reach into the fender well, find the vehicle’s front suspension, and use the hydraulic cutter to make a vertical cut in line with the suspension, just cutting the fender (photo 8). Then make another cut horizontally near the bottom of the fender and close to the base of the A post and the rocker panel (photo 9). Grab the fender above the horizontal cut, pull it up vertically, and bend it over the hood to move it out of your way. Caution: Some vehicles have reinforcement straps attaching the fender to the vehicle’s body; they might need to be cut as well (photo 10). The fender peel also exposes the crush zone, door hinges, and dash wiring knockout hole (photo 11).
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In all of these fender evolutions, you must use caution when working around the vehicle’s suspension. It is dangerous to cut, crush, or squeeze the vehicle’s suspension components. Also, you will need to use caution when making your vertical relief cut if you cut through the hood area; many vehicles today use gas piston struts to assist with lifting the hood and holding it up. Use the same precautions as for gas struts when cutting through the hatch area.
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Fender evolutions, while seemingly minor in the grand scheme of the extrication, play an ever increasingly important role in space- making operations. As vehicle technology affects tool evolutions, rescuers need to constantly think and work smart. Revisit your extrication tool evolutions; see in what ways vehicle materials, construction, and design impact such operations; and adjust your methodology and tools, if necessary, to stay on top of the game. Making space quickly and safely and accounting for vehicle technology concerns will help you achieve a better outcome for the victim.
DAVE DALRYMPLE is a career EMS provider for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital/St. Peter’s University Hospital Emergency Services in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is also a firefighter/EMT/rescue technician and former rescue services captain of the Clinton (NJ) Rescue Squad. Dalrymple is the education chair of the Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee-US and serves on the Expert Technical Advisory Board of the International Emergency Technical Rescue Institute as the road traffic accident advisor.
