On Sunday November 29 just before 1700 hours Horsham Fire Company was dispatched to a Vehicle Rescue.  Upon arrival we were met with a 4 door Chevy Blazer on top of a parked car.  There were 3 occupants in the Blazer and no one in the parked vehicle.  Although the injuries were not life threatening the occupants were still in a precarious position; the vehicle had rolled over completely at least once before coming to rest on the parked vehicle.  

 

The Rescue crew immediately went into service stabilizing the vehicles involved.  On the Blazer we used used all 6 Junk Yard Dogs struts that the company owns in addition to the standard wood cribbing.

 

Due to the position of the vehicle and the patients inside the vehicle; we used some unconventional tactics to extricate them.  We positioned the JYD's in the doorway on the passenger side to stabilize the vehicle and allow EMS crews to approach the vehicle safely.  After the initial patient assessments were completed a plan was formed to start the extrication of the patients.  Patient # 1, the front seat passenger, was extricated first.  Then the strut located in that door was shifted back towards the rear of the vehicle, allowing for the patient to be extricated.  Patient # 2, the back seat passenger was extricated next.  The JYD strut was shifted forward and the patient was easily removed.  Patient # 3, the driver, was extricated out of the drivers door.  The door was removed using a Holmatro combination cutter and the patient was extricated.

 

It is my belief that the ease of these struts aided us in our efforts, as well as allowed us to extricate the patients without causing any additional harm.  These struts were able to be deployed and moved in such rapid form that all 3 patients were able to be extricated in under 20 minutes.  

        
Lee Greenberg

Horsham Fire Company # 1

Deputy Fire Chief