The Times Advocate, 2008-11-19, Page 13Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Times -Advocate
13
Volunteer `victims' take part in extrication exercise
By Karen Brown
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE
EXETER Laying in the twisted rub-
ble of a three vehicle crash surrounded
by shattered glass, poked by broken
metal and seeing the odd body laying in
wait is not an experience to be wished
on anyone.
In the pitch darkness of the evening
all that could be heard was the wind
blowing through the corn fields. Had
I been able to reach through the shat-
tered window of the car from my posi-
tion in the driver s seat I could easily
have touched the undercarriage of the
school bus which was lying on its side.
Inside the bus were 17 students. There
was a van tipped over at the other end
of the bus containing two victims.
Waiting for the 20 members of the
South Huron Fire Department along
with 10 from the Hensall Fire Depart-
ment, an ambulance crew and the
OPP to arrive, Kayley MacGregor, Al-
exa Sereda and I chatted about how
we would react when the firefighters
reached the car we were assigned to.
We had each been given a sticker that
signaled our condition to the firefight-
ers. Kayley was to be treated as critical,
Alexa was conscious and I was uncon-
scious. We were told that we were not
to offer any assistance to the firefighters
and that if anybody wanted to play the
part of a victim complete with screams
of terror they could go for it.
I m not sure if the victims in this prac-
tice scenario were not feeling brave
enough to scream or if, like me, they
were totally engaged in listening to
the firefighters as they made their way
through the scene assessing the stabil-
ity of the vehicles, counting numbers,
performing triage and then beginning
the process of removing the victims.
The cacophony of sounds was unset-
tling and a great relief at the same time.
We knew the firefighters were working
on removing a victim underneath the
school bus just to the left of where I sat.
We could hear cutting and sawing not
too far away.
They were never in any one place for
very long. The firefighters made deci-
sions quickly. The communication be-
tween them was con-
stant.
When it was time for
the three of us to be
removed there was a
quick discussion about
how best to deal with
each one in turn. Blan-
kets were placed over
our heads and some-
one yelled breaking
glass moments before
we heard the smashes
and felt hundreds of
pieces of glass rain
down on us.
The roof of the car
was removed from the
passenger side and
Kayley was taken out.
The sound of metal be-
ing snapped, sawed
and crunched made me
jump more than once.
Next Alexa was put
on a backboard and
taken out through the
back door of the driv-
er s side. Last it was
my turn to be removed. There was a
question about the gender of the vic-
tim me who was still covered by
a blanket.
I don t know I didn t look, came
the response. The next discussion had
to do with my legs and whether they
were pinned in the foot well. Hands
went up and down the lower parts of
my legs checking for obstructions. With
that problem solved they grabbed me
by my legs and shoulders, lifted me up
and slid a backboard underneath. Once
the belts were secure they hauled me
up and toward the back of the car and
finally out. Put down a safe distance
from the wreckage I was released from
the board, reported to a firefighter in
charge of collecting names and my time
as a victim was done.
Most of the other victims were out
of the vehicles by that point but I did
get to watch the last couple come out
of holes that had been cut in the roof of
the bus.
Over the walkie talkies I heard a report
that all the victims had been removed.
The entire exercise had taken one
hour and fifteen minutes. Small
groups of firefighters formed
up to discuss what had taken
place with a particular rescue,
Practice South Huron firefighters and volunteer victims recently took part in an extrication
exercise.Above, the victims prepare to enter their assigned vehicles before the exercise begins.
(photo/Karen Brown)
CLINTON and DISTRICT
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
inspiring education
Offering - JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN
2009 w 2010
Junior & Senior
Kindergarten
Registration
Friday, November 21
9:00 a.m. noon
3
At CDCS, we are committed
to the educational
development of your child.
• Dedicated, caring staff members
• Weekly communication between
school and home
• Resource teacher & EA's
• Volunteers
• Safe child program
To schedule an appointment simply call
519-482-7851 — your time will include:
registration, "Calling All Three
Year Olds" screening, meeting
the Kindergarten teacher and
a guided tour of the school.
For more information, contact 482-7851
www.clintonchristian.ca
87 Percival Street, Clinton, ON
disbanded and reformed with differ-
ent members as each step was assessed.
Everyone seemed pleased with the sce-
nario and with the training opportunity
they had just experienced.
As a pretend victim who hopes, like
each of us, never to be a real victim, I
can tell you that we can feel secure in
the knowledge that if ever the worst
happens we have a group of
firefighters in South Huron
who train hard and are abso-
lutely prepared when the real
thing happens, in part due to
safely constructed scenarios
such as the one that took place
last week.
In their day to day lives the
men and women who volun-
teer for this service are business
owners, sales reps, paramedics,
factory workers, parents and
partners. When they are called
to an emergency they are a fo-
cused, cohesive team intent on
solving the problems they are
presented with quickly, effi-
ciently and safely.
As citizens we can play a role
in any emergency by getting
out of the way whenever we see
emergency vehicles with lights
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flashing and hear sirens blaring. When
our volunteer firefighters are called to
the station they will turn on green flash-
ing lights positioned on the dashboard
of their personal vehicles. While they
are required to obey the laws regarding
lights and stop signs we can help them
by recognizing those green lights and
not impeding their progress.
MUNICIPALITY OF
BLUEWATER
BAYFIELD - HAY - HENSALL - STANLEY - ZURICH
2001
MUNICIPALITY OF BLUEWATER
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
Temporary Road Closure
WARD OF ZURICH
for the annual
Santa Claus Parade
December 7th, 2008
from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M.
Goshen St., Walnut St., Center St.,
John St., Mary St. and East St.
John Graham
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