Randy, a training dummy, was on the job Saturday, as the Newburg, W. Va., Volunteer Fire Department was trained in how to rescue real people in vehicle accidents.
Fire Chief Bill Larew barked out questions like a drill sergeant as he and other experienced firefighters refamiliarized themselves with rescue equipment and taught newer recruits what to do.
“What do you do first?” Larew asked.
“Stabilize the car,” came the reply.
“We try to do this auto extrication once a year,” Larew said. “We keep up with the tools and techniques, things like that.”
Newburg is fortunate to have about 11 active firefighters, Larew said. That includes two new junior firefighters. Newburg, like all of Preston County’s volunteer fire departments, is fighting a declining number of volunteers, as long-time firefighters age. Larew, 73, said he and firefighter Tom Willis joked at one point they would become, “the geriatric department.”
And the need for fire departments will never go away he said. “Pretty much if you don’t know who to call, you call the fire department.”
The hydraulic tools the firefighters practiced with are commonly called the Jaws of Life, but that’s just the brand name of one style of tools. They resemble a large pair of scissors that can force apart metal. Other tools include a saw, cutters and a pillow mat that can be slid under something, then inflated to raise what it’s beneath.
One set of the tools cost $40,000. Newburg’s set operates at 5,500 PSI (pounds per square inch). Newer tools are 10,500 PSI.
Another tool, a triangular shaped device, is placed under the car to stabilize it. The device adjusts to keep the car stable. It’s much better than the old system of putting in cribbing blocks, Larew said. With this, one person can do the stabilization.
But tools are nothing without the knowledge of how to use them.
After stabilizing the car, the firefighters address the air bags. If they haven’t deployed, they go under the hood to cut the power. “Hoods are very hard to get up,” Larew noted, as they practiced. An exploding airbag, when they were inside the car could cause major injuries.
Getting inside the car can require use of the hydraulic machines or be as simple as opening the door handle. Newly minted EMT Devon Larew showed the other firefighters how to stabilize a patient inside the car. Others show how to cover the patient with a tarp and shield him or her as the car is accessed.
“These windows, you can hit them with a sledge hammer and they won’t break, but we’ve got a little pointed tool and they snap out,” Larew said, demonstrating. When he pushes the six-inch tool into the rear glass of the car, it breaks into pieces. Firefighters try not to break windshields, Larew said, because they can crumble into a fine dust that will blow into the eyes of rescuers and victim alike. The firefighters wear gloves that contain Kevlar, with padded knuckles, when working with the glass and buckling metal.
Comforting the patient is crucial, Bill Larew said.
“We’re dealing with people who are having a really bad day,” he said. So he cautions the others, as they use the tools, to be cognizant of the noise they make.
Five-year-old Noah Larew and his friend, Katheryn Holt, 7, stood by watching the training, wearing plastic toy fire hats — and the occasional borrowed hat from one of the firefighters. Noah’s Dad, Nathan Larew, Uncle Devon Larew and great uncle Bill Larew are all in the department. Nathan Larew said when his pager goes off, Noah sets out his dad’s boots, turns on the scanner and otherwise helps.
“He gets me out the door,” Nathan Larew said. “He shaves 30 seconds off my time.”
The crew trained about four hours in the hot sun, then under hot lights. But it was time well spent, Willis said. “It’s the times when you pull somebody out of a vehicle and if they’re bad you put them in the [helicopter], you leave the scene and you think, ‘That was well worth it — saving somebody.’”
Eric Larew donated the two cars for training.
———
©2017 The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.)
Visit The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.) at www.dominionpost.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
