By Robert Crowe
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2008 San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Shearing an old Cadillac of its doors and roof with hydraulic cutters and heavy-duty saws was short work for San Antonio firefighters last week.
In about 10 minutes, Fire Station 11’s rescue crew turned the junker Caddy into a pile of scrap metal at a South Side salvage yard as firefighters demonstrated how they extricate people from car wrecks.
Those tools and techniques, however, don’t always work on some new cars made with tough alloy metals.
“The traditional tools we use, they don’t work the traditional way,” said Albert Rodriguez, an engineer with the fire station’s rescue team. “It’s harder to cut into some of these newer cars.”
High-tech steel — combined with boron or treated at extremely high temperatures — makes new vehicles safer for motorists, while frustrating emergency responders and auto body workers.
“We’re not having to work the victim as aggressively as we used to because they’re safer in the vehicle,” Rodriguez said. “In another aspect, it’s making it harder, because if we do have to go and cut a car, that’s very, very difficult.”
Some departments have begun purchasing newer and more expensive equipment. Many spend time learning more about individual vehicles that also have multiple airbag systems and high-voltage lines that can be dangerous if cut improperly.
“It’s a challenge trying to keep up with all the models and makes, but our guys keep current with automotive design and safety features,” said Kerrville EMS coordinator Eric Maloney.
The San Antonio Fire Department is considering purchasing newer equipment from TNT Rescue Systems Inc. A typical TNT hydraulic extrication kit with cutters, spreaders and saws can cost about $20,000. Most SAFD trucks have some rescue equipment.
For now, the department has revised its training techniques.
The same type of saw blades that cut through the old Cadillac’s six roof posts with ease last week were no match for a 2005 American-made SUV that Rescue 11 firefighters encountered a few years ago.
“The reciprocating saws would not cut through the posts and the hydraulic cutters would just bog down,” Rodriguez said. “The blades kept wearing down, so it took us a lot longer than it usually does.”
Concerned that it took 20 minutes longer to get the victim out than it would have with an average vehicle, Rodriguez began researching new techniques and equipment.
Extrication equipment manufacturers are now marketing stronger, lightweight devices to respond to newer challenges.
“There’s definitely some new technology, so we are talking to many car manufacturers,” said Hurst Jaws of Life spokesman Aaron Guenther. “We have been talking to many automakers to learn how we can better protect the public.”
TNT Rescue Systems engineer Tim Blanton said his company’s older equipment is still effective with proper training.
“Because of the stronger metals and heavier pins, firefighters have to become car surgeons now,” Blanton said.
When a roof post refuses to yield to a saw or cutter, San Antonio responders now cut around the sheet metal near the base of a post.
“We had to learn to adapt,” Rodriguez said. “It doesn’t take much longer now.”
Rodriguez said the phenomenon is still relatively new. Only about 10 percent of accidents requiring extrication involve vehicles with rigid metals. European manufacturers such as Volvo, Porsche and BMW have long used the metals, but high-tech alloys are increasingly found in American and Japanese vehicles.
In some instances, responders have also found it difficult to pry open low-end cars made with weaker metals.
“Sometimes the metal will rip when we use spreaders, so it can be a challenge,” Kerrville’s Maloney said. “You have to think critically and adapt in the field.”