A crash near Pilger put the extrication skills of local emergency crews to the test last week.
At about 9:30 p.m. on April 14, a driver on Hwy. 20 north of Humboldt called Humboldt RCMP to report a downed power line near the curves between Fulda and Pilger, reported Cpl. Randy Wittig of the Humboldt RCMP.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that he noticed the cause of the downed line - a vehicle had left the road and hit a power pole, knocking down the line.
RCMP report that a Ford LTD had been southbound on Hwy. 20 when it left the road and hit a power pole on the west side of the road. The car ended up laying on its passenger side, and the power line was left drooping over the highway.
Luckily, the car did not land in any open water, though the area around it was quite wet and muddy.
Emergency crews arrived on site at approximately 10 p.m., but were forced to wait between five and 10 minutes for the power to the high voltage line to be cut before they could access the crashed vehicle, reported Humboldt Deputy Fire Chief Francis Kunz, who was there with eight firefighters.
Firefighters used that time to get their tools out and ready, and to figure out what they were going to do, Kunz said. However, those plans had to be adjusted when they saw exactly what they were up against.
Once the power was cut, firefighters and crews from Humboldt and District Ambulance Service were able to approach the vehicle. It was determined that the driver inside, a 64-year-old man from Humboldt, was alive, and they set to work to try and get him out, which was easier said than done, due to his position in the vehicle.
The driver was actually trapped partially underneath the car on the passenger side. He was almost out the passenger window, pinned underneath the car.
"Due to the muddy conditions and the patient being pinned in the vehicle, the extrication was very complicated," reported Derek Dagenais, paramedic with HDAS.
"It was a difficult extrication," Kunz agreed.
In order to get him out safely, firefighters blocked the vehicle to make it stable, and cut the battery power to prevent airbags from going off. They then removed the windshield, cut the front posts of the car and sliced the roof so that it could be peeled back. The car was too deep to cut the passenger side of the roof, so they then used an airbag to raise the car up to give them clearance for the cutters. Then they still had to shovel underneath to make sure there was enough room.
Once the roof was out of the way, they were able to get in and move the driver out fairly easily.
"I'm very proud of my guys," Kunz said. "They did a professional and expert job."
They took their time, thought it through and didn't rush it, he said.
The driver was conscious for the entire extrication, he added.
All in all, the challenging extrication went extremely well, he believes.
The crew "did an excellent job," Kunz said, putting to use all the training they've received in vehicle extrications.
"These situations can be very precarious for rescuers and it was handled very well by all three agencies involved as a team effort - EMS, RCMP and HFD," Dagenais said.
The driver was loaded into the ambulance by about 11:30 p.m.
The driver managed to walk away from the crash with minor injuries. He was taken to Humboldt District Hospital for treatment.
The crash is still under investigation by Humboldt RCMP.
