Heavy lifting by firefighters frees teen pinned in crash

[Swede]

Good stuff.


She was face down between the van and a snowbank, yelling for someone to "get me out."

The firefighters had the equipment to lift the van in their rescue truck, but the captains from Clareview and Londonderry stations figured they could do it faster on their own.

So eight or 10 of the firefighters, including Clareview Capt. Larry Kozachuk, gathered around the back of the smashed-up Ford Freestar and lifted the rear of that 1,815-kilogram vehicle off the girl as paramedics pulled her free.


http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/2010wintergames/Heavy+lifting+firefighters+frees+teen+pinned+crash/2474805/story.html

[ddeclue]

1. Boo yah!!!

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

2. Very unwise glad it worked out.

[ret5hd]

4. Maybe you and nadine can hang around to make sure all the paperwork gets filled out.

[Swede]

5. Fight nice,you guys.

Read my sigline!

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

7. I'm a Fire Captain trained in every aspect of rescue and this was foolish.

[Arctic Dave]

9. Totally agree with you on this one.

Whoever the Captain was on scene took an incredibly foolish risk. They just happened to get lucky on this one.

[njlib]

3. Nice story!

She's lucky to be alive and what can you say about the firemen? Excellent job!

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Ah this is a classic of... at times brawn is faster than getting the

equipment out. Good for them.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. It's almost always faster and much more dangerous.

[omega minimo]

10. I believe you. Seems like there would be protocol for these times someone thinks its a judgment call

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. There is...

in a call like this, in a heavy rescue, you are supposed to take out the pneumatic bags, or other gear that does the same.

But there are times that in very specific situations you go around it, or use other means.

:-)

Hell protocol says you should not go down a rope in a rappel rescue fast, I did once... it was a judgment call. The rope that the patient was hanging from was fraying.

I ruined my rope... we both lived. Oh and I did not kill one tree either.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

13. The person you rescued was in imminent danger and you had a controlled situation.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. The only time would be when the patient was going to die imminently if the vehicle wasn't moved.

The girl had only minor injuries and would have been fine had they cribbed and braced the vehicle before lifting it with extrication equipment. I'm glad it worked out but 10 guys standing on snow and ice lifting over a hundred pounds a piece wasn't the wisest thing to do.

David