Blog - The Raven Speaks
Rescue From Vehicles in Water
October 20, 2011
Did you know that 60% of flood deaths are attributed to people driving their vehicles into moving water? Rescue from vehicles in water is one of the most common water-related incidents faced by swiftwater teams. Are you prepared for this?
Some of the Raven team had the pleasure of hanging out and experimenting with some of the leading experts in rescue from vehicles in water this past month. It was a fantastic opportunity to train on and in a vehicle in swiftwater outside of an actual event. We were hosted by Rescue 3 International’s corporate office in California and the Cosumnes Fire Dept. As you can see from the pictures we had the opportunity to use a secure training vehicle in a man-made swiftwater facility. We had the ability to move the prop into different positions, adjust the water flow, and experiment with various rescue techniques.
The stages of rescue involving a vehicle in water are the same as we teach for any water rescue. These stages are Locate, Access, Stabilize and Transport. However accessing, stabilizing the vehicle and extricating patients can be a tricky business that requires some specialized training and techniques. The vehicle itself also poses some unique hazards that need to be pre-planed for.
Although the behaviour of vehicles in swiftwater is not an exact science, many things are predictable. For example, a vehicle that is moving with the current will typically come to rest with its engine pointing upstream. Additionally, the stability of the vehicle largely depends on the surface of the river bottom.
Once a plan is formulated, gaining access to the vehicle is one of the first steps and should be only performed by rescuers trained to the technician level (or higher). Options include: shallow water crossing, tethered swim, boat-based, helicopter, tensioned diagonal, and aerial platforms just to name a few. Deciding which road to take will depend on vehicle position, access to resources, and a solid risk benefit analysis. As always, we must consider the lowest risk option with the highest probability of success.
Stabilization of the vehicle is a key consideration. There are many variables that will affect the rescue plan and rescuers must take into account a number of factors including: vehicle size, water velocity, depth, whether the vehicle is pinned, what is available for anchors, distance from shore, number of people in the vehicle, and on and on the list goes. Once stabilized there are also a number of variables to consider when looking at options to extricate the subjects inside.
Although our SRT 1 courses already include some information regarding rescue from vehicles in swiftwater, we feel that this type of high risk technical rescue requires a more specialized workshop including significant hands-on training. To this end, we are excited to add a Rescue from Vehicles in Water workshop to our programming line up and have plans to offer our first course in Canada in the spring of 2012 and again in the fall. This course will be available to those who are already trained to the technician level in swiftwater rescue.
Some of the skills covered will include:
Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you are interested in this course. We will be adding more specific course information to our website in the upcoming months and posting dates for courses on our online schedule. Stay tuned to the Raven’s blog for more info!
comment to this post.
