Truck Entanglement
Challenges Firefighters
[UPDATED: 08/08/02] >PHOTOS
>ACCIDENT
VICTIM THANKS VOLUNTEERS
>EVANS CENTER IS WNY'S BRAVEST
TIGER SCHMITTENDORF/Public
Information Officer
MidTown - Saturday, May 11, 2002 – A snapped power
pole, downed live wires, leaking gasoline and a severely pinned patient were
just some of the challenges that the Evans Center Fire Company faced at an
accident around 4:30am on Saturday, May 11, 2002.
A pick-up truck
was reportedly traveling eastbound on Erie Rd./Rte. 5 in the Town of Evans when
it apparently left the road, hit a culvert and became airborne, striking a power
pole directly in front of the Town of Evans Municipal Center.
Although the
Angola Fire Control Dispatch Center and a Rural/Metro Paramedic Unit are
stationed within the Municipal Center, they were unaware of the crash until a
passerby alerted them minutes later. The dispatch center does not directly face
the street and no other indication of an accident was reported there.
The paramedic crew
called for Evans Center to expedite to the scene as the driver of the pickup was
critically injured and trapped inside. The truck was lying on its side with a
snapped power pole through the windshield. Live wires were down next to the
truck and gasoline was leaking from its tank.
Evans Center’s
Engine 1, a combination engine/rescue, called on location and its crew went to
work stabilizing the vehicle. Emergency personnel were concerned that the
cracked power pole may topple at any time, bringing more energized power lines
down with it. They were also concerned that the downed wires could arc and
ignite the leaking gasoline.
The 24-year old
male driver of the truck was conscious and speaking with rescuers. Although his
upper torso was partially ejected out the driver’s window, his lower body was
trapped inside the cab.
As Evans Center
Firefighter Sean Murphy supported the weight of the patient from underneath,
other firefighters worked around them to cut away the posts of the truck cab
using battery powered Sawzalls and their Hurst Hydraulic
Cutters. The team had
to work from underneath the vehicle as well as use an attic ladder to reach the
passenger side of the vehicle that was out of their reach above them.
Not long into the
incident, a Mercy Flight Helicopter and the
Niagara Mohawk Power Company were
requested. Unsure of what specialized tools might be needed, Newton-Abbott’s
heavy rescue was called to the scene as their comprehensive compliment of Hurst
are compatible with Evans Center’s rescue system.
Hamburg Fire
Control Dispatch directed Eden Firefighters to set up a landing zone, first at
the Angola Airport, and then redirected them to the Lake Shore Senior High
School closer to the crash site.
A wrecker from
Pinto’s Collision was summoned to the scene early on to stabilize the
overturned pickup – a move that would prove instrumental later in the rescue
effort. Given the angle of impact and the surrounding challenges, the crew
worked cautiously to cut away the roof of the truck cab. A tarp was placed over
the downed wires to isolate them from the rescue workers and speedy-dry was laid
down to absorb the gasoline. A fire extinguisher and charged hose line were
always close at hand.
Mercy Flight Pilot
Ed McDonnell landed the chopper on the high school lawn and Paramedic Crew Chief
Skip Yuhnke and Flight Nurse Steve Baxter came to the scene. The patient was
administered oxygen and IV lines were established to replace his fluids.
The original plan
was to cut the rear ‘B’ posts of the top of the truck cab and peel the roof
back towards the front of the truck and against the pole. However, a large
crease in the roof prevented this tactic and required the crew to cut the front
‘A’ posts of the cab. Once the roof was removed, the team could see the
extent to which the patient was pinned by the dashboard.
It was quickly
established that there was no alternative but to up-right the truck in order to
extricate the patient – a maneuver that Evans Center had never had to perform.
Prying the dashboard off the patient and against the pole was deemed unsafe and
ineffective. Other ideas of cutting the truck from around the patient were ruled
out due to the amount of time already elapsed.
The threat of the
live overhead lines and the precarious angle of the snapped pole prevented them
from doing much else until Niagara Mohawk was able to de-energize the power
lines. In the meantime, the wrecker from Pinto’s Collision was chained to the
bottom of the truck and team leaders organized the next steps of the plan.
Once the power
company gave the all clear, the rescue team could proceed safely. A firefighter
stood in the bed of the truck holding the patient up by his arms as Pat Murphy
relieved his son Sean, supporting and calming the patient during the move.
Under close
coordination, the wrecker first lifted, and then moved the truck away from the
pole just enough to clear it. Firefighters closely monitored the pole for any
sign of tipping or further cracking as the truck was up-righted.
Ever so slowly,
the wrecker operator brought the vehicle back onto its tires. The transition was
smooth and uneventful, but the rescue work was far from done. Personnel now had
a bird’s-eye view of the extent to which the patient was trapped in the
vehicle.
While they could
see that his lower legs and feet were not pinned, they could also see the scope
of injuries to the lower extremities. The medical personnel were now concerned
that the open wounds would “bleed-out” now that the patient was in an
upright position. Time was critical.
Paramedics
consulted with medical directors at the Erie County Medical Center
(ECMC) and requested
the county’s chaplain and S.M.A.R.T. unit to the scene. S.M.A.R.T. is the
Specialized Medical Assistance Response Team which brings emergency
physicians, physician assistants, nurses, paramedics and other emergency support
staff to the scene to augment the care provided by local EMS agencies when
dealing with prolonged or unusual out-of-hospital patient care situations.
Newton-Abbott and
Evans Center Firefighters teamed up to simultaneously unpin the patient from the
compressed dashboard and pry apart the driver’s side door. Working in unison,
two separate sets of “Jaws-of-Life” and hydraulic “rams” were used to
spread the passenger compartment back towards its original shape.
After several
minutes of leveraging the twisted metal, the team was able to force the opposing
pieces apart, allowing them to lift the driver out of the cab and on to a spinal
immobilization board positioned in the bed of the truck.
He was airlifted
to the county’s trauma center in Buffalo where he underwent surgery to repair
the multiple trauma suffered. As of last report, the patient not only survived
the ordeal but doctors were able to save both of his legs despite open fractures
and a partial amputation resulting from the crash. He is reportedly recovering
and undergoing comprehensive rehabilitation.
The entire rescue
effort took some 90 minutes – beyond the “golden hour” goal rescue teams
set from the time of impact to established treatment in an appropriate trauma
facility – but certainly understandable given the extreme challenges faced.
Evans Center’s
team of Chief Dennis Allen, Lieutenant Bruce Green
Jr., Captain Ken Hontz, Firefighter Charles Klepfer II, Asst. Chief Charlie Klepfer III, Firefighters Pat
Murphy, Sean Murphy, Joel Raisor and Mike Relosky, Captain Tiger Schmittendorf, Asst. Chief Tim Szczepaniak, and Firefighters Harry Watkins
and Bob Zamrok worked together with the crew of Newton-Abbott Rescue 3, Mercy
Flight and Rural/Metro Paramedics to save the patient’s life and limbs.
In a letter to the
fire company, Mercy Flight’s Yuhnke credited Evans Center with the save and
stated that the rescue “…ranked high as one of the most difficult
extrications I’ve seen in my 26-year career in EMS.”
Special thanks go
to: Bill Wiate, Scott Thomson and Jim Cafferty from Niagara Mohawk for responding
so quickly to secure the pole and terminate the live wires; to Steve Smith from
Pinto’s Collision for his expertise and professionalism in securing and
up-righting the vehicle; to the Eden Fire Department for securing the helicopter
landing zone; to the South Towns HazMat Team for cleaning up the fuel spill and to Evans Center’s Fire Police for managing traffic safely
around the accident scene.
The Angola Fire Control Dispatch
Center, Town of Evans Police, Village of Angola Police, Hamburg Fire Control
Dispatch Center, and Mercy Flight Dispatch assisted Evans Center at the scene.
For more information on Erie
County’s S.M.A.R.T. unit, visit their web site at: http://wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/medicine/emed800/phcare/Html/SMART.html
If
you or anyone you know are interested in volunteering, please do not hesitate to
click or call the Evans Center Fire Company at 716.549.1221, web: www.ecvfc.org or e-mail: info@ecvfc.org.
#30#
Established
in 1933,
the Evans Center Volunteer
Fire Company is a premier provider of emergency services in Western New York –
protecting residents and businesses along the Lake Erie shoreline and travelers
along 15 miles of the New York State Thruway
Evans Center provides comprehensive
fire suppression, extrication, specialized, water and ice rescue; fire police,
life safety education and advanced life support emergency medical services to
the Town of Evans community.
