RESCUE REPORT:
Pennsylvania Rescuers Extricate Teen Who Crashed Car Following Police Pursuit

By Tom Vines
Photo Courtesy Deputy Chief Jay Fetterolf/Doylestown Fire Company

On Dec. 11, a teen driver fleeing police tangled with a guardrail in Doylestown, Pa., presenting local firefighters with an interesting and challenging extrication.

The incident leading to the police chase began when a police officer saw a red Volvo run a stop sign. The officer attempted to pull over the vehicle, but the Volvo sped up. The officer initiated a pursuit, but lost sight of the vehicle near the intersection of routes 313 and 202. The vehicle sped off on Route 202, and police dispatch instructed the officer to cease the chase.

A short time later, the officer came upon the Volvo, wrecked, on its side and impaled on a guardrail, about 3 miles from the original chase. As the officer approached the wreck, one of the passengers, a 17-year-old male, bailed from the vehicle and tried to flee. Officers quickly caught him, but the other teen male, the driver, was trapped in the vehicle. He was conscious, alert and oriented, and the airbags had deployed.

Police called Bucks County (Pa.) Communications Center to dispatch extrication and EMS units. At 0204 HRS, the communications center dispatched Midway Fire Company Rescue 5 and Engine 15. The deputy chief was first to arrive on scene at 0210 HRS, and the chief arrived 1 minute later. The chief took command, and the deputy chief assumed operations.

After doing a 360-degree size up, personnel began the extrication, which Midway Fire Chief Stephen Cronin called a “delicate and complicated” operation in part because of the way the guardrail came up through the floorboard and entrapped the victim’s leg.

Additional resources were requested, including mutual aid from Doylestown Fire Company. These additional resources—Deputy Chief 19 and Rescue 19—began arriving on scene at 0228 HRS.

Firefighters used jacks and cribbing to stabilize the vehicle. They removed the vehicle roof and then cut the guard rail and removed it from the vehicle.

The victim’s position complicated the extrication. During the crash, the driver’s seat had fallen backward. The driver-side door was partly wrapped around the patient’s chest/stomach area and against the dash, which was against his abdomen and across his lap in the shape of a horseshoe.

The combination of the victim’s position and the position of the vehicle—on its side—made for cramped working conditions. Rescuers placed a ladder against the passenger side, so one responder could assist with the extrication via the passenger-side window.

To gain access to the lower part of the victim’s body, firefighters used both small and larger rams, plus cutters. Once they reached his knees, rescuers found that his feet were trapped under the floorboard. This meant a continuation of the long and tedious extrication, using a small ram. Finally, rescuers put a C-collar on the victim, placed him on a long board and lifted him out.

Because of thick fog, MedEvac helicopters could not be dispatched. So at 0422 HRS, Central Bucks Ambulance Medic 125 transported the victim to St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown Township. The 17-year-old male passenger who had self-extricated was treated at Doylestown Hospital for leg pain and released, police said.

Sources: Deputy Chief Jay Fetterolf of the Doylestown Fire Company and Chief Stephen R. Cronin of the Midway Fire Company provided information for this report. Some additional details were taken from the phillyBurbs.com section of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

LESSONS LEARNED/LESSONS REINFORCED: Midway Fire Chief Stephen R. Cronin commented: “This was not one of those cases where you could just come running in, pop the door and pull the patient out. It was a matter of having to continually assess the situation. It had to be very methodical, continually monitoring the victim and working with the medical unit, and working as a team to do things. To their credit, this is what the team did, using their knowledge, skills and ability to perform the job.”

Just as in the 360-degree review of a structure fire, the walk-around is a critical part of the size up of a MVA. Most important, it can reveal hazards, such as leaking fuel or undeployed airbags. But can it can also alter the tactical approach to the incident by, for example, revealing additional areas that need stabilization or preferable patient extrication points, initially not seen on first arrival.

Rescue Editor Tom Vines is the co-author of “High Angle Rescue Techniques” and “Confined Space and Structural Rope Rescue.” He operates a rope-rescue consulting group in Red Lodge, Mont.