| On February 12th, Foreman Jerome Newman led another vehicle extrication drill geared towards helping the newer members of the department with various tools and extrication techniques. The car, a mid 1990's Plymouth Neon, was graciously donated by a town resident who no longer needed the vehicle.
To start, the focus was placed on accessing the area under the hood for the purposes of extinguishing fire in the engine compartment, as well as disconnecting the battery of the vehicle. From there, the cutters and spreaders were set up from Rescue 44, and used to pinch and peel back the doors to cut them from the frame of the vehicle. Emphasis was put on aligning and working with the tools at the correct angles as to not interfere with potential patients in the vehicle. After the doors were off the vehicle, the front windshield was removed using a standard pickaxe to chop and break the windshield.
After the doors were off, a double dash roll was attempted using our two hydraulic rams (one with an extender) powered off of our two portable 10,500 p.s.i. pumps. A chain and spreader system was also attached to the front axle and steering column of the vehicle to "take up slack" as the dash rolled forward. Following relief cuts on the rocker panels towards the firewall, the dash (and car) "rolled" relatively easily. The rams were then maxed out to produce some wild car-modern art type sculpture.
Thanks to the Bedford Highway Department for letting us use their facility on Crusher Road, and to Foreman Jerome Newman for running the drill. |
