National Fire & Rescue Mag - Midgate Article

[mmdavidw]

The National Fire and Rescue Magazine did an article about the Chevrolet Avalanche and the Midgate. It goes on to talk about how they can use it to extract someone from the vehicle should other methods not be available.

It goes on to note that the size of the opening when the midgate is folded down could just save someones life.

"During my recent assessment of the Chevy Avalanche at a local dealership, I was pleasantly surprised at the way this pickup truck can be transformed to possibly increase our access to the patient. The interesting thing about this setup is the size of the opening that exists from the tailgate to the dash post-transformation. "

And continues on...

"The window can be stored in the rear panel before the panel is laid down, opening the access to the rear bed of the pickup. This could provide good access to the inside of the vehicle, should we not have access through other areas."

You can read the complete article here. (there's some at the top, and more at the bottom of the page)

This could be a good idea for members and for local clubs. Split up and hit the local fire departments. Ask to speak to the Fire Chief and tell them that you read the article about the Avalanche in the National Fire and Rescue Magazine about using the midgate to extract a person and offer to demo the midgate to the firefighters.

It could just save your life... or someone elses.

David

 

[1busboy]

Good article, thanks for sharing....

 

[dmacker]

Looks like we're ahead of the curve on this one.

 

[pktwatch]

Does it say there is a easy way to get into the truck through the midgate from the bed of the AV?

 

[mmdavidw]

Does it say there is a easy way to get into the truck through the midgate from the bed of the AV?

The article suggests for firefighters to use the midgate to extract someone from a vehcile since it has a large opening when the midgate is folded down.

David

 

[pktwatch]

Ohh, I see now, I was think about them getting into the AV but they are talking getting the patient out.

 

[mmdavidw]

Ohh, I see now, I was think about them getting into the AV but they are talking getting the patient out.

I'm sure it could be used for that too, depending on the situation.

Imagine being in a multi-car pileup and you have cars pinning your doors shut... as long as you're not upside-down you should always have an easy-exit through the midgate.

Plus if they drop the midgate, they would have a nice area to work in for life-support equipment or whatever they would need to assist you.

David

 

[mmdavidw]

Yes Chief, I will writeup an article on this for the magazine. Both one on how to escape through the midgate in an emergency and one on how firefighters/EMTs can use the midgate to extract someone from a vehicle.



David

 

[steelheadchaser]

Additional options in patient extrication and access are always welcome, but the midgate is probably not going to play a critical role in too many rescues. A couple of firefighters with reciprocating saws and/or hydraulic cutters would be able turn an Av into a roadster in just a few minutes. In a vehicle extrication, due to the mechanism of injury, spinal immobilization of the victim is of paramount importance. Patients, unless they are pulseless or extremely time critical, are removed only after they have been back-boarded and c-collared. Getting a patient on a board and attempting to get them out the back would not normally be one of my first choices, but it would be another technique to have in the bag of tricks.

 

[pdxkevin]

This would be fun. I am going to see about my local FD. See if they are interested. (mental note: bring more brochures)

Great article. Thanks for the link and post.

 

[baron138]

I am afraid Steel is right. The Midgate does offer us another option but next to safety, fast access is the most important thing in extrication. If we had to do a rapid takedown of a patient we wouldn't take the time to do the conversion. It's sad but in these situations doing you are not worried about doing further damage to the vehicle. Depending on the situation, we can extricate a patient with jaws, cutters, and saws faster than converting the truck. It really stinks to cut the patients car apart, but the damage we do won't matter if the patient doesn't make it. About 2 weeks ago, we had to cut a girl out of her 2 week old Audi ?. She begged us not to "hurt" the car. (man can they build cars) About a month ago we had to pop a door and cut the roof off a guys Porche. He had borrowed it from his father, and didn't tell him. He had a lot of explaining to do to dad as to why his 3 month old car was now a converable . ?The father stopped by the Firehouse and thanked us for saveing his son. The Midgate does give another option though. ?

 

[txavatar]

My department already has two AV's sitting in the parking lot so I am sure they know already


Also, I agree with the jaws of life observation. ?Essentially you have be able to get into the Avalanche from the side to open the midgate anyways so I don't really see how it helps much. ?

 

[davidi4]

I am afraid Steel is right. The Midgate does offer us another option but next to safety, fast access is the most important thing in extrication.

you have good points, but I see it being important to introduce the vehicle's various configurations and operation, so you don't have rescuers getting a surprise, expecting stability where it doesn't exist, or being confronted with a conversion they hadn't see before. I was a FF/EMT in the late 80's myself, and I can see tremendous benefit to a medic trying to stabilize a patient or get more working room if they are aware they can quickly fold the seats down to a firm working surface.

BUT... if you have an unconcious person who you need to immobilize, and the rear seats are down, they WILL BLOCK the movement and tilt of the front seats, in which case the rescuers need to know how to convert the truck back so they can tilt the seats, etc as needed...

I'm contacting my local VFD and the neighborhood city FD to schedule demos - I also think the AV could be a great platform for a Brush Truck.

has anyone cut the roof off an AV for a vertical extrication? I know how to pop open a sedan with 4 cuts, but the B pillars are pretty beefy, and close to the front seats, plus you have the side airbags, which are not obvious from the outside, at least with my seat position.

 

[steelheadchaser]

I know how to pop open a sedan with 4 cuts, but the B pillars are pretty beefy, and close to the front seats, plus you have the side airbags, which are not obvious from the outside, at least with my seat position.

A Sawzall with a metal blade will make short work out of an Av's "B"-pillar.

There are air bag labels on the inside of a vehicle where applicable.

I should also point out that if there is sufficient damage to the sides of the vehicle that you can't get to the patient through any of the doors, there is a good possibility that one may not be able to manipulate the seats or the mid-gate due to that same damage. One really needs to have attended a couple of these to fully appreciate the evolution. There is usually a lot going on.

 

[davidi4]

A Sawzall with a metal blade will make short work out of an Av's "B"-pillar.
There are air bag labels on the inside of a vehicle where applicable.

what is the trigger for the side airbag? my concern is triggering these bags while a worker is next to them... I learned with a Hurst Omni-Tool, and airbags were only in high dollar cars

 

[baron138]

A huge part of Extrication these days is trying to keep up on automotive design. It's not just something that you learn once and your done. It is something that is always changeing. One of the problems that you run into is that you almost never get a brandnew model year car to practice on. Most of the time, you train on older junk cars. Many times you end up working at an M.V.A. on cars you have never cut before. Especially the high end sports cars. These cars are really put together well and made not to come apart easily. We never get the Audi's or Saubs or Avalanches to train on. Some extrication tool manufactures ?put out manuals on auto designs that tell you about the cars systems and placement of key componants. You can really get hurt, and make a bad situation worse. It's not just the high end cars that have the passanger restraint systems anymore. One such thing was the side curtains that inflate at the roof line between the A&B post designed to keep people in the car and protect their heads. There are low end economy cars that now have these features. Or the automatic seat belts that ride in a track along the roof line. They have cables under tension, and some have gas canisters that deploy to tighten the belt on impact. If you were to cut one of these that was not discharged, or cut the cable while trying to fold the roof you could do a lot of damage to the patient, and yourself. There is no question that it would help your area rescuers to show them how these trucks work. It could someday help you by helping them. ?

 

[steelheadchaser]

I'm not sure on the Av. One of our main protocols is to stay out of the path. Battery gets d/c'd right away, but as you know the bags may still go off for up to 30 minutes after that. Exposure to the rescuer and patient in these areas are kept to the barest of minimums. As far as where to cut on the pillars, we generally remove the liners so we can see the bag(s). They may be cut high or low on the posts. Nowadays we also have to work around seatbelt pretensioners. These reside in the pillars and at the risk of oversimplification "explode" to tension the belts during a collision.

 

[davidi4]

I'm not sure on the Av. One of our main protocols is to stay out of the path...As far as where to cut on the pillars, we generally remove the liners so we can see the bag(s). They may be cut high or low on the posts. Nowadays we also have to work around seatbelt pretensioners. These reside in the pillars and at the risk of oversimplification "explode" to tension the belts during a collision.

on my Z71, the side airbags are IN the seats...

my cutting class was on junkers, and clipping A pillars and rear roof lines obviously never encountered dangerous systems then. Neither did using come-a-longs to raise the steering wheel off a driver - I'd be hesitant to try that trick nowadays, with airbags and collapsable columns.

 

[steelheadchaser]

We pretty much do a dash-lift using the spreaders or ram now. A couple of relief cuts and away you go.

I'm trying to find the Av info in an online Holmatro book, but I'm having some difficulty with the .pdf files.

The new electric cars are going to be challenging, presenting us with a whole new array of problems.

 

[davidi4]

The new electric cars are going to be challenging, presenting us with a whole new array of problems.

I'm trying to imagine the explosion radius of a Hydrogen fuel cell in a repeat of the Ford Crown Vic gas tank fiasco of late...

 

[baron138]

Wheel lifts are too dangerous to do now. We do like Steel said, roll the dash. When we train the rookies, we teach them rolling the dash and just tell them that replaces the wheel lifts that used to be used.

 

[davidi4]

Wheel lifts are too dangerous to do now. We do like Steel said, roll the dash. When we train the rookies, we teach them rolling the dash and just tell them that replaces the wheel lifts that used to be used.

I've got a lot to unlearn if I join up with a VFD again... compounded by an interlude of Navy firefighting training - OBAs, EEBDs, salt water strainers, oh my!

Ya'll still use Scott airpacks, foam, fog, and positive ventilation?

 

[steelheadchaser]

The crew I work on cuts cars frequently for drill, usually about 10 or more a year. We usually try to figure out an interesting scenario rather than just do the same old stuff on a car sitting on all fours. We will stack cars on each other, put them on their sides, mash them a bit with a little cat, etc. We recently experimented by trying a dash roll on a car resting on it's roof. We didn't know what to expect, but it worked great!

 

[steelheadchaser]

Ya'll still use Scott airpacks, foam, fog, and positive ventilation?

My department hasn't used Scotts for about 15 years. They have been replaced with MSA's (two different models at that). AFFF still has it's place. Dual pattern tips are still in vogue. Positive pressure ventilation seems to remain somewhat controversial, although that is tending to change, one retirement at a time. Our chain saws and ladders still see a lot of use, though.