DE FFs Extricate Passenger Impaled by Road Sign

Aug. 29, 2021

Dover firefighters found the victim impaled by a street sign that entered the floor board and then impaled the passenger's leg.

Source Firehouse.com News

Firefighters stabilized the vehicle before using O-cutters to cut the sign post above and below the patient and removed the vehicle's doors for total access.

Dover firefighters extricated a man who pulled into a hospital parking lot who was impaled by a road sign.

Crews were dispatched to Bayhealth Kent Hospital just after midnight Thursday. The street sign post broke through the passenger-side floor board, and entered the passenger's right leg before stopping at the ceiling of the vehicle's cab.

Dover firefighters worked with Kent County EMS and hospital staff to stabilize the patient before cutting the sign post around the patient.

Firefighters from Dover Squad 1 stabilized the vehicle while members of Kent County's EMS KM7 assessed the patient and Squad 2 assumed command, the department shared in a Facebook post.

Squad 1's crew deployed their O-cutter to cut the post above the leg. A second cut was made between the patient's leg and the floor board.

Squad 1 and Squad 2 firefighters used their extrication tools to remove both the front and rear doors of the pickup to ensure the victim could be removed easily and prevent further injury from the impalement.

The patient was transferred to hospital staff and firefighters went in service.