How can we add extrication to our dept services?

[efd4515]

Our Department runs primarily fire calls, maybe an MVA here and there. The closest Rescue Squad is about 20 minutes out from our district, therefore we are curious as to how we need to go about getting an extrication service at our dept in Eagleville, TN?

[Lieutenant387]

Eagle, send me an email address as I am familiar a bit with TN and can help you get around the hurdling blocks of Tn rescue

[jeremymader]

Why not toss a combi tool, a ram and some cribbing on the engine or truck? In my area, some trucks have a spreader, cutter, pair of rams with a portable pump set up and sometimes an engine will have a combi, a ram with a pump.

Maybe look into getting a Power Hawk. Pretty sure it might be a cheaper and space saving alternative.

[ellwood1]

There are really 2 issues here the political aspect of begining a new service and the logistical. For once I will stay out of the politics and comment on the logistics.

My personal theroy is that there are three controllable factors that effect our performance on any emergency scene Training, Policies and Equipment. You can use this model to develop your team, and to make improvements down the road. Vehicle rescue is a patient driven skill and as such you should be working with a continual improvement mind set.

Policies: First you need to decide what level of service you are going to provide. Since you have a rescue squad 20 min. away and only respond to an occasional MVA you may consider only providing initial stabillization, scene support and "simple" extrications(e.g. standard door evolutions). Or you can choose to be fully independent. Next create S.O.P.s that describe which apparatus will respond, what there staffing level will be and what requirments will be placed on those responding (will all your dept. ff's be trained for rescue or will it be a team).

Training: Sorry I'm a training officer so this one is important to me. I'm sure I'm mangleing the quote from Ron Moore but here goes " Real world experiences should be repeats of experiences already gained through training." I believe this is the bigest piece of the puzzle. Learn to emphasize safety from response to return. Before you start your team you need to train hard and often, the once or twice a year training that some dept. do just won't cut it. You need to devolop a friendship with your local wrecker or junk yard. Find the best trainer available to help you at first, send people away to train the trainer courses. Go to a T.E.R.C. competition and talk to the teams someone should be more than willing to help you. Then hold regularlly scheduled extrication trainings that test your teams abilities.

Equipment: First let me say I'm not a huge fan of combi tools but that is just my personal feeling. A combi tool would be adequate if you had a "heavy rescue comming" I just don't think they should be the only tools on the scene. Get the best set of Hydrualic tools your budget will allow. Then you have to figure out all the little things you are going to need, cribbing hand tools, recip saw(check out the porter cable variable angle saw) patient protection supplies, sharps protection. I'm still thinking of little things we need on the rig.

I know I was long winded and probably didn't clear up any questions, but if you have any specific questions throw them out there.
Remember baby steps. Good Luck.

[firefighterbeau]

lots of good suggestions, if youd like drop me a pm with your email in it and ill send ya a copy of the basic equipment list that ND uses to be a rescue squad. and train as much as your possibly can, if its only once or twice a year thats more than some depts do. some around here only hold a class once every 2 years cause thats what the state requires at a MINIMUM.

[BigRig]

I agree, combi tools have their advantages, however I'd much prefer a dedicated cutter and spreader. Also, invest in a simo power unit, perhaps looking at the XRT unit. There are many combinations of tools available so shop wisely.

Should you be interested, search for NC Assoc of Rescue & EMS. Locate their homepage, then locate the list of eqt for each level, light, medium, heavy.

Foremost, consult all the co-responders in your area and develop an acceptable plan. Then, train continuously.

[Catch22]

We recently started our implementation of auto rescue on my vollie department. We get our share of responses to MVCs, but have always had obstacles (primarily monetary) in getting into extrication on our own. We've always had to rely on the town 10 miles north of us to provide rescue.

The first thing we did before we even considered it was to look at our response numbers to MVCs. There's no use getting a bunch of equipment that you don't have the manpower to operate. The way I look at it, it takes 6 guys to do extrication properly. A driver/engineer to operate the pump; an IC; safety officer; someone to work the pump; someone to care for the patient(s); and someone to work the tools. When we started to look serious at buying the tools, we had an average response of 8 firefighters.

The second consideration was training. There's really no use of buying equipment if you don't have the guys who know how to use it. This was actually pretty easy for us, since most of our guys already had formal training in extrication. The guys that provided extrication were always good about letting our guys operate their tools when possible, as well. We also have an instructor that's qualified to teach extrication for the state, so we do a lot of training in-house.

The biggest issue we had was the money to buy the tools. We had an accident where a couple of "prominent" members of the community were involved in a serious accident. The department who provides our rescue are supposed to be dispatched automatically for MVCs didn't get dispatched at all. As it worked out, there was a 15-20 minute delay before they got out the door. This lead to questions in the community as to why we had to wait on someone and why we didn't have the equipment to handle those situations ourselves. So, the owner of a bank chain told us to order a basic set-up and to get good equipment. His words were, "Get the good stuff, we don't want ***** equipment here."

A year later, we still have the neighbors responding automatically, but we're slowly working our way into being able to provide auto rescue ourselves. We've got cutters, spreaders, hose, and power unit. We're looking at being able to purchase a couple of rams and possibly air bags in a few months. A local sawmill donated cribbing. And to top it off, we got a grant to buy a quick-attack/squad that is going to have the compartment space to store our equipment, and will have reels installed.

My point is to look into doing this in a logical manner, looking at the big picture. Don't go for the gusto and buy a bunch of equipment that you don't have the manpower or training to handle. At the same time, if you're a small department without much funding, don't let that stop you; there's grants and donations available if you're willing to do the work.