Somers Fire and Rescue

Extrication Training

When people are involved in a car accident, damage to a vehicle and its occupants is almost certain, depending on the speed, mass and inertia of the vehicle or objects involved. For instance, a stationary large oak tree does not give as much as the metal in an automobile will. The damage to a vehicle may be so severe, that doors and window will no longer function, and the vehicle may have to be cut apart using the "Jaws of Life". Firefighters must train with the various tools necessary to open a car to quickly reach the people trapped in side.

Science at Work

The forces that cause sheet metal to wrinkle and crush can totally destroy an automobile in fractions of a second. The metal of a car body can be so bent and twisted, that the occupants can be entrapped and injured inside. The tools necessary to free the injured occupants have to exert forces in the opposite directions of the crush with care not to further cause injury to the occupants. These tools can include the cutters, spreaders, and rams all powered by an hydraulic gasoline powered pump. Other tools used in the extrication process are air chisels, saws-alls, hand saws, pry-bars, screwdrivers, pliers, and other hand tools. The most important tools are the brain and hands of an experienced firefighter in the art of extrication. Our firefighters are constantly learning and training in new techniques for extrication. As these pictures show, not much is left of a car when access to the patients inside is needed.

© Somers Fire and Rescue August 21, 2008