Outside the Box Extrications
Outside of the box extrications can happen anywhere. Pools, creeks, ponds, rivers are located in most every place in the world. Cars under semi trailers happen daily around the United States. Take a look at the pictures below and do a quick size up and make up your game plan.
For a vehicle in a pool, how would you stabilize the to keep it from sliding the rest of the way into the pool?
Car on Dock
Boynton Beach, Florida
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- Boynton Beach Police Department Facebook Page
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- WPTV Channel 5
Tractor trailer in the car
Nelspruit, South Africa
Vehicle under tractor trailer
Yonkers, NY
Vehicle on the Porch
Denver, Pennsylvania
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- Denver Fire Company Station 13
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- Denver Fire Company Station 13
Vehicle in Pool
Linden, South Africa
Ventura County Fire Department
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- Ventura County Fire Department Facebook Page
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- Ventura County Fire Department Facebook Page
Farm equipment vs a car
Heavy Rescue
Large Animal Rescue
Working with their past experince, the Patterson Fire Department’s completed their 4th horse rescue in the past several years.
Horse Rescue
Per the post from the Patterson Fire Department’s Facebook page:
At 0732, 25th of August 2021, the Patterson fire department was dispatched for a public assist to a local farm. Patterson’s heavy rescue, 22-6-1, arrived on scene and found a 31-year-old male horse, named “Dozer”, in distress. He had apparently fallen and managed to get himself stuck between a rock and a fence line. At first, the crew attempted to assist the horse in getting up by shifting his position. It became apparent that additional equipment was going to be needed to help Dozer out since he had become too exhausted to get up on his own. After some discussion, it was established that the best plan of action was to use a Paratech bipod system. It would be used as an artificial high directional with TU-32 griphoist’s assistance to lift the horse up. With a lot of sweat and effort, the crew was able to lift the horse up onto his feet. After some much-needed fluids and rest, we were happy to see Dozer trot away, unassisted.
An interesting fact, this is Patterson Fire Department’s 4th horse rescue in the past several years, all with successful outcomes.
Photos below from Andrew Akin
Bowling Green State University State Fire School Certified Rescue Tech
These courses are NFPA compliant and covers all six disciplines of technical rescue operations. Students will utilize the latest and greatest equipment and will put learned skills to the test in intense hands-on scenarios.
General information on the Certified Rescue Technician Program.
Class Schedule
- Rope Rescue Technician
- Water Craft Ops / Swift Water Ops
- Confined Space Technician
- Vehicle & Machinery
- Trench Rescue Technician
- Structural Collapse Operations
Rescue Methods BGSU 2021 rescue tech series with structural collapse ops.
Quick Tips
Motor City Monday Extrication Tip; Electric Vehicle Battery Pack Reinforcements
As vehicles change, our knowledge must continue to keep pace and expand our mental toolbox. The extrication tool manufacters have kept pace with their cutters, spreaders, and rams to combact these strong steels. It’s our job to stay
Electric Vehicle Battery Pack Reinforcements
Like everything in life, vehicles are changing, well vehicles keep changing. World leaders are pushing green vehicles which will increase our interactions with electric vehicles. First off, let’s look at the common acronyms of several common green and traditional vehicles.
- BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle
- PHEV = Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
- HEV = Hybrid Electric Vehicle
- ICE = Internal Combustion Engine
Unlike BEV, PHEV, and HEV, the term ICE refers to the engine itself, rather than the type of car. Normal/traditional gasoline and diesel cars have internal combustion engines.
Electric Vehicles present several challenges to firefighters with battery fires leading the way. The automakers are designing and engineering extremely strong protective cages around battery packs. We are no strangers finding boron, martensite, and press hardened steels in the pillars, roof rails, and fender wells. However, in a BEV, the rocker panels and cross vehicle reinforcements will have boron and martensite steels to protect the battery pack from collisions that could comprise it. In the images below, the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach E has this strong steel in the rocker panels and cross vehicle reinforcements. The automakers can tie in the strong rocker panels into the front fender wells requiring us to make deep cuts during a dash lift or roll.
The image below shows the different testing vehicles are subjected to and a strong battery cage can not only protect the battery pack, but also the occupants of the vehicle.
As vehicles change, our knowledge must continue to keep pace and expand our mental toolbox. The extrication tool manufacturers have kept pace with their cutters, spreaders, and rams to combat these strong steels. It’s our job to stay current where the automakers are using strong steel.
Images from several Great Designs in Steel (GDIS) 2021 Presentations.