EJR's RescueTechs.com

My friend, Jörg Heck, and myself co-authored an article on proper securing of vehicles involved in collisions that appears in issue #63 of Technical Rescue magazine.

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Emergency services around the world are routinely called to motor vehicle collisions, and the number and diversity of motor vehicles that rescuers are called to deal with is increasing.  In the past, the vast majority of cars were fueled with either gasoline or diesel fuel, and other than fuel leaks, the biggest concern rescuers were taught to deal with was disconnecting the 12-volt battery to make the vehicle “safe”.  This was taught as a way to control/deplete the stored energy related to frontal airbag systems and to reduce the risk of post-crash fires.  Rescuers were reasonably assured that the vehicle was disabled if this activity was completed.

Recently, I was out in the field administering a written basic [beginner]-level vehicle rescue test to a class and I was asked (and then argued with) over why there are medical questions on a vehicle rescue test.  This is not the first time I have had this discussion during testing and it is really starting to upset me…  I once again found myself asking, “What are “rescuers” being taught?”