Truck vs. Car

September 4th, 2003, 7:15am - "Wear your seatbelt!"

There was a page to "an overturned vehicle" as our family was peacefully getting ready for a school day. I drove the Squad with four additional firefighters. The first truck out the door was Engine 3 with five firefighters. We arrived just in front of the ambulance.

This was an "extrication", we had to cut the car off a woman who was trapped in an overturned car down in the ditch. She had been wearing her seat & shoulder belt so she was hanging upside-down while we cut the car apart. Had she not been wearing her seatbelt she may have been ejected from her car.

The other vehicle had three occupants who were safely out of their truck and sitting on the grass. All had been wearing seat belts and proper child seats. It turns out the driver was one of our very own volunteer firefighters on his way to work.

Photos


This is what I first saw as I drove up. I thought this guy had maybe just pulled over to help as I recognized the truck as probably one of our volunteer firefighters. I didn't notice the skid marks right away.

After everyone was safely tucked away. I noticed the truck had "issues".

You can make out the airbag that saved his face.

If you look closely, you can see the child safety seat through the window. The reflections include me on the left and the ambulance on the right.

An EMS worker checks one of the girls while another guy I know looks on. Dad is holding the other girl (blocked view by the EMS worker).

Here you can see the front driver's door has already been removed (upper left) and they are cutting off the rear door. Fire hose at the ready. This is what is left of the front of the car and I had not yet put down the camera to cut off the door on this side.

Door number two is being carried away. You can see that even the rear tires are destroyed. There is an EMS worker in the vehicle with the woman who is hanging upside down.

This is a close-up of "the snippers" tool used to cut off the doors (or anything else for that matter). You could cut a phone pole in half with this tool. Just after this shot, I put away the camera and used that same tool to cut off the door on the other side so another firefighter could get inside to assist the EMS person.

To make a long story short - It doesn't matter where you are going or how quick a trip it is, wear your seatbelt.