Shortly before 0600 hours on Saturday 12 December the B Shift crew from Rescue Engine 433 was dispatched to a vehicle accident with entrapment on the I-66 East Bound through ramp at Nutley Street to fill the Rescue Company assignment. Battalion 443 (BFC Munday) was also dispatched to this incident. While enroute, DPSC notified the responding units there were two vehicles involved with significant damage and one on its roof. Engine 434 arrived on the scene first and advised there was one vehicle on its side with the driver trapped inside and one vehicle with front end damage. Engine 434 then established "I-66 Command" and continued all units. Upon the arrival of Rescue Engine 433 (Captain Vita) the crew performed a quick assessment of the situation and began to work. The vehicle was stabilized with the Para-Tech Rescue Struts on the undercarriage and a partial roof removal was quickly completed using two Hurst cutters and a Hilti electric reciprocating saw. After gaining access to the patient it was found his left foot and leg were pinned between the dashboard and floorboard and wrapped around the brake pedal. Patient care was handled by the engine medic from Engine 434. Several methods were used in an attempt to push the dash to include Hurst Rams, Spreaders and chains to perform a steering column pull. The patient was extricated and packaged into Medic 434 within 30 minutes of the arrival of the Rescue Engine due to the complex nature of this incident. The patient was ground transported to INOVA Fairfax Hospital, the local Level I Trauma Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. All personnel on scene worked extremely well together.
This incident was an outstanding example of teamwork and professionalism from the rescue company as they collectively worked to develop multiple plans to successfully extricate the trapped patient. This labor intensive extrication was an excellent way to send Master Technician Miller off to his shift transfer since this was his last shift as the B Shift chauffeur on Rescue Engine 433. The members of B Shift would like to thank Master Technician Scott Miller for his seven years of hard work and dedication to the training and advancement of Rescue Engine 433 and its crews and wish him all of the best with his new assignment on C Shift.
