Saturday, August 1, 2009
DESPITE EVERYBODY’S BEST ATTEMPTS TO PROTECT AN ACCIDENT SCENE, there are always some drivers who seem intent on driving into parked fire trucks and already-wrecked cars. Now most FD’s are having to run extra apparatus and plan their positioning on highway accidents just to assure the survival of the firefighters and paramedics working on the wreck. A few months back we pointed out one department that was using a ladder truck for maximum protection and a car drove into it anyway.
A couple of days ago one of our readers John Sachen, a Senior Fire Instructor, was traveling up I-55 just south of St. Louis, Missouri, when he came across an accident scene being worked by Rock Community Fire and Rescue Dept. that had traffic stopped for a moment allowing him to take this picture of what he calls “doing it right.” John points out: Note the two blocking vehicles securing the extrication and triage zones. Also see that with properly angled block vehicles the approaching traffic automatically moves to the preferred lanes without the need for extra law enforcement or firefighters directing traffic.
That is a very important view as we teach using block vehicles and angling them to direct traffic. Our success rate, when the procedure is used, is very high. When we first were made aware of the procedure I personally impemented it twice in a 30 day period and was astounded with the way it worked.
He also adds, “Hats off to the Rock Community duty crew!”
