Rescuing after a Crash

[Superleggera]

Hello BHP-mates,

Couple of times I had witnessed that after a severe accident, it’s difficult to take the people out of the vehicle which was involved in the crash. Usually, public waits for the cops or fire force to come, break the vehicle and move the people out. As of all us know, police and fire force will always be late and the people who got hurt would die because of loosing blood. My question here is, if a vehicle gets involved in a crash and the doors get stuck, which is the easiest way to take people out? Which part of the car can be broken easily to take people out?

Note from Mod : Please see this thread

[Rehaan]

Good question superleggera,

But i wonder if sometimes more damage is done when removing the person from the car (especially if its difficult).

In the USA for example, people are so scared of getting sued because they caused the person some more harm by trying to help them, that they do not help AT ALL.

Moving away from the issue of taking some action that will save the persons life, I think even just talking to the person or some kind of physical contant and reassurance can make a big difference.

On the other hand, here are some rescue tools used by the "pros" :
Hydraulic rescue tools - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Usually they cut the A,B or C pillar and peel back the roof to extract the person.

cya
R

[esteem_lover]

Like rehaan said, sometimes it is best left to the professionals. I have heard of many instances of people losing their limbs or even their life because of this. Not that our police is professional in this, but at least they do have more experience in these things.

[phamilyman]

Inept half baked knowledge is always dangerous.
marut: I almost got killed last night. Really.

[humyum]

I was in this kind of situation onces when i had posted the pics of a maruti 800 crash around a year back.People were not willing to help or touch the car.I used the jack from my car and tried to unwrap the mangle.With the high torque the jack was capable of putting out i was successful to a certain extent which made it possible for the people in the car to be pulled out.Offcourse the bystanders started helping only after my mama and me started doing all this as initially they were even afraid to try anything but seeing us help they also started helping.

[madan80]

more than helping- people are wary of getting tangled in the mess. the cops come and take youa way to the station as though you have caused it.

[Nitin]

Thats the biggest reason why some people just go past accidents with victims lying all over the place. The cops/legak system traps these innocent people trying to help,and then its a major rut.

Rubber-necking, as it happens in the US,is another thing. I have seen so many accidents where people drive by a crash,and slow down just to get a good view of the crash. But, another commendable act that I have seen is this- Many times,teen aged drivers/youngsters end up in a crash and they break down with the fear & shock. 99% of the time total strangers stop by to console the victims involved in the crash,hold hands and just pray or try comforting the person. Sometimes 5-6 people stand by the victim,and form a circle and pray. They huddle together,and thank Almighty for saving a soul, or if someone has been injured/hurt, they stand together and pray for recovery/strength to handle the situation.

In India,a victim would lie in a pool of blood,and die right there. It would be a long long time before anyone steps forward to help. There are, of course, some noble souls who take the extra step and help these victims a million times.
Hats off to them..

[shivapsreddy]

During my last visit to India when I was coming from Tirumala to Cuddapah, there was an accident. The accident happened as the driver/owner of the Indica car fell asleep and ended up in the canal(kind of canal which is seen on the sides of most of the roads) on the opposite side of the road. After the incident the car was upside down(tyres are on top and the roof of the car was facing the ground). We pulled out 3 of the 4 people from the car and the other person who was driving was dead. Many people were not helping. This happened around 10-11PM. Even the lorry people were not giving ropes to pull the car out. We felt happy to help these people. The car was not seen as the canal was deep. Some of their relatives were in another car Tavera and they stopped us and they were in shock and some were ladies.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Nitin

In India,a victim would lie in a pool of blood,and die right there. It would be a long long time before anyone steps forward to help. There are, of course, some noble souls who take the extra step and help these victims a million times.

Im not sure we can generalize, and even if we do, i think its way more likely that you will get help in India than in the USA. Although i am not saying it doesnt happen the other way around sometimes as well.
As i said earlier >

Originally Posted by Rehaan

In the USA for example, people are so scared of getting sued because they caused the person some more harm by trying to help them, that they do not help AT ALL.

cya
R

[madan80]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Im not sure we can generalize,

well, i will also tend to agree here - though i know its contradicting to what i said earlier. I have seen many a times - the auto drivers ( in chennai) rushing people to the hospital. They are the best kind of ambulances- squeeze theur and cna get to destinations fast.

[four_tire]

My Observation says
1. Some systems (in some countries) are built to function: only few countries take things seriously and aim at fulfilling the requirements of the system. People and authorities are continuously involved in tuning and mending the way. this means even people are trained to handle incidents before the experts arrive. That kind of a country/system is/was built to provide quality in everything and crowd is fully aware.

2. Some systems in some places are for namesake:
Here in this case there is a system and there is very minimum awareness about what it is and how to use. So people are not so confident. Lack of interest in getting to know also exists.

3. There is no system whatsoever.
Maybe no system exists or if it is there, its just a fake one. No initiatives, No awareness and no punishment for not following it

in case 1 & 3 .. victims can be saved by on-looking crowd not in 2

[snaronikar]

Last week 3 of my colleagues got involved in accident 2 of them died ( 1 died on spot (neck breakage) and other on way to hospital) and one is recovering in hospital. The second one could have survived had the medical assistance had reached him in time.

[im_srini]

Yes, one would have to agree that rubber-necking is prevalent here in India, where any excuse to drop everything & gawp at an accident is almost considered a birth-right ! But it would be foolish to generalize, I've seen several incidents where the public have taken it upon themselves to help those who are hurt. I don't think we as Indians are apathetic, & for a country without 911, 24-hour emergency services, & flying ambulances, I think we do pretty well...

And Madan, I too agree with your observation, frustrating as they are when they co-habit the road, auto drivers seem to be the ones most willing to help those hurt in an accident - in my limited experience at least