ROUTINE INDUSTRIAL EXTRICATION YIELDS LESSONS
BY VICTOR PETRUCELLI
On January 19, 1996, Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department Rescue Company 1 was called to an industrial accident at a newspaper recycling facility. A 30-year-old male plant worker had gotten his left hand caught between a conveyor-belt roller and the metal I-beam frame of a paper shredding machine while trying to clear a jam. To make matters worse, the back of the victim`s hand was impaled by sharp metal serrations on the roller surface that provided the traction to drive the belt, and the worker was on a narrow catwalk approximately 15 feet above floor level.
When Rescue Company 1 arrived, police emergency units and EMS were already on the scene. In addition to the rescue company, the fire department dispatched two engine companies, one truck, and the Fourth battalion chief–a normal response for an industrial accident. Plant workers guided us to the site of the entrapment, which was approximately 100 feet from the entrance.
As emergency medical technicians evaluated the patient`s condition, police and fire personnel conducted a size-up to determine the best way to effect the rescue. We decided that disassembling the machine was the quickest and safest method to release the victim.
Sometime prior to the fire department`s arrival, a maintenance worker had attempted to free his coworker with an oxyacetylene torch. The process was stopped immediately, since it proved to be extremely dangerous.
THE OPERATION
The floor area around the machine was littered with approximately four feet of shredded and stacked paper. In addition, 15 foot-high walls of baled paper were also stored in the building. As a precaution, the incident commander ordered that a charged 134-inch hoseline be standing by to protect the rescuers and victim during the operation.
Plant maintenance workers confirmed that the electrical power was shut down and were ordered to maintain a vigil at the controls to prevent it from being reenergized.
EMS personnel started an IV and began administering oxygen. When they determined that the patient`s condition was stable, the extrication began.
A screw on each side of the machine held the mounted roller. We removed the bolts holding a heavy cover guard to gain access to the roller`s bearing mount on the victim`s side of the machine. The cover was raised, and wood cribbing was used to hold it up and out of the way. The cover`s size and weight made it too hazardous to try to remove it over the trapped victim. A 34-ton come-a-long was secured around the roller and attached to an overhead beam, to stabilize the roller and prevent any sudden movement when it was unbolted. We then removed the bolts to the roller bearing and raised the bearing housing with a pry bar and halligan tool. During the lifting process, a wooden wedge was inserted in the open space to prevent the roller from dropping down.
To create enough space to free the victim`s hand, the bolts holding the cover and bearing mount on the opposite end of the roller had to be removed in a similar fashion. After this was accomplished, EMS personnel administered additional medication to the victim to counteract the possible effects of crush syndrome (see “Crush Syndrome,” by Dario Gonzalez, M.D., Fire Engineering, May 1994, p. 64), and the victim`s hand was removed from the machine.
Although the victim received substantial injuries to his fingers, hand, and wrist, he remained surprisingly calm and quiet while the operation was underway. Once he was freed, EMS personnel packaged him for transport to the hospital and removed him from the catwalk on a stair stretcher.
LESSONS LEARNED AND REINFORCED
All parties must be coordinated at a multiagency incident. One overall incident commander should be named to coordinate the efforts. Medical stabilization should take place while the rescuers carefully establish the best way to complete the extrication.
It often is more expedient and less traumatic for the victim if conventional means (hand tools, for example) are used to disassemble an industrial machine when performing an extrication. Sometimes maintenance personnel on-scene who commonly work on these machines can provide valuable input as to the amount of difficulty that can be expected in the disassembly process.
This rescue was performed on a narrow, elevated catwalk. Under such circumstances, rescuers can work most effectively if nonessential personnel are kept from the immediate area and are staged in another location for use as needed.
The high level of noise made verbal communication from one end of the machine to the other difficult at this incident. Contributing to the difficulty was ambient noise from other machinery in the building and routine portable radio traffic from the three different agencies operating at the scene. To help reduce the noise, management should be requested to shut down nonessential machinery in the area and silence portable radios in the immediate area of the rescue. Personnel in the staging area should monitor each agency`s frequency and relay in person important messages to the rescue scene.
When undertaking this type of operation, it is important to remember that for every action, there is a reaction. This reaction must be carefully considered and evaluated before removing any machine parts. Proper support and bracing must be in place to prevent further injury to the victim.
Some industrial accidents occur a considerable distance from the closest point of approach for the apparatus. Using additional companies to help transport equipment to the rescue site will free the rescuers to perform their specialized duties.
Whenever a potential fire hazard from a flammable or combustible source is present, a manned charged hoseline should be standing by ready to protect the victim and rescuers.
A professional demeanor and confident actions have a calming effect on the victim.
A lock-out/tag-out kit should be used to secure the electrical power until the rescue has been completed. n
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VICTOR PETRUCELLI is a 14-year veteran of the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department and a captain assigned to Rescue Company 1.
