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
On 9/22/09
there was a crash in Horsham Twp,
Montgomery County,
PA 2 vehicles, one overturned on
its side. Horsham Fire Co. and Willow Grove Naval Air Station personnel
secure JunkYard Dog ZSTRUT Rescue Struts on the undercarriage of rolled vehicle.
Large strut tri-angulated with small strut adding backup. Quick deployment
and setup allowed EMS personnel to stabilize and extract patient from the car.
On
September 4, 2009 this accident occured in
Cheltenham Township, PA
with Glenside F.C., Weldon F.C. and Ogontz F.C. on the rescue box. Quick
and easy deployment of a ZSTRUT triangulated to stabilize a car on its side.
The patient was removed after the windshield was cut away.