Auto extrication
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Auto extrication. Cooperation of emergency services and civilian safety information prevented major injuries and fatalities in this early evening head-on collision on one of Long Island, NY’s heavily travelled parkways.
The expert extrication efforts of the Commack Fire Department and Suffolk County Police Department’s Emergency Service Squad (right photo) prevented further injury to the trapped victims. Due to the use of seat belts by the civilians at the time of impact, they suffered only broken wrists and twisted ankles in what could have been a tragic accident.
Once freed, the victims were immobilized (bottom photo) by emergency personnel using a C collar and the Kendrick extrication device (KED), a flexible piece of equipment used for patients with possible injury to the cervical spine. Emergency personnel bandaged the eyes of one of the victims, who was complaining of eye pain, in the event there may have been small fragments of glass in them. Only after immobilization were the victims transported to the hospital.
photo by Jay Clrillo
photo by Jay Ciriilo
Mutual respect and cooperation are the keys to success at incidents like this. These two photos are a statement of such cooperation and evidence of a “job well done” for all concerned.
— FE.
