March 8, 2010
A Subaru Forester rolled onto its side, pinning the driver’s foot underneath, and presenting Rescue Squad crews with an extremely complex extrication scenario.
Rescue Squad 741 Bravo (one of the Squad's two heavy rescue units) responded to a personal injury collision with a report of one trapped at the intersection of Wyngate Drive and Keystone Drive, two neighborhood residential streets. It arrived first on scene to find the vehicle on its side in the middle of the intersection.
Upon arrival, the Rescue Squad crew first stabilized the vehicle using Paratech struts and wedges on the underside and step chocks on the top side of the vehicle. They then cut the roof and removed the steering wheel using hydraulic cutters in order to gain access to the driver. However, they still were not able to remove him because his foot was pinned between the driver’s side door and the door frame next to the ground.
In order to free the driver’s foot, the crew used the CombiTool from the top side to create a small gap between the door frame and the ground. After placing a wooden wedge to conserve that space, they then did the same thing with spreaders from the vehicle’s underside. Working in concert, the two tools were able to create enough space to free the driver’s foot. If that strategy would not have worked, the Rescue Squad officer had called for a heavy-duty wrecker to life the entire vehicle as a backup.
Once freed, the patient was quickly removed to Medic 723 from Rockville, which assessed the patient, stabilized the foot, and transported to the Shock Trauma Center at Suburban Hospital. The patient did not appear to have any significant injuries other than to his foot.
In addition to Medic 723, other units responding included Engine 720, which provided scene safety, and Engine 706, which provided an additional medic.
According to dispatch records, the entire extrication, including stabilization, roof removal, cutting the steering wheel, and raising the vehicle to remove the patient, took only 36 minutes.
