June 9, 2009

Two Separate Extrications in One Location on Old Georgetown Road

in the Same Day 

In a period of less than 12 hours, the Rescue Squad responded to two separate auto collisions  requiring patient extrications.  Both occurred on Old Georgetown Road at the entrance to the Outer Loop of the Beltway.

At about 1145 hours, Medic 730 came upon a collision while returning to its Cabin John station from Suburban Hospital.  When Rescue Squad 741 arrived on scene, the medic crew reported that they had a patient with an unstable airway trapped in a vehicle that had been struck broadside. 

The Squad crew simultaneously popped both front doors and quickly removed the patient.  Medic 730 was able to stabilize the patient and transported her to the Suburban Hospital Trauma Center (less than 1.5 miles down the road) as a Priority 1 trauma.  There were 3 other patients, including an infant who was transported by Ambulance 726 to Children’s Hospital with a possible head injury.  The two remaining patients were transported by other Rescue Squad ambulances to Suburban Hospital.

Almost exactly 11 hours later, Medic 741, Rescue Squad 741, and Chief 741C were dispatched to the same location with Montgomery County Police reporting one pinned and wires down in the road.  Montgomery County Fire/Rescue Battalion Chief 702 arrived on scene first, and confirmed a pole was down across Old Georgetown Road just north of the scene.  Fortunately, the wires were not between the Rescue Squad and the patient, so they didn’t hinder operations.  Rescue Squad 741 again found a car that had been struck broadside in the intersection.  The car had traveled off the street, striking the telephone pole and shearing it completely off, and coming to rest at the bottom of a steep embankment. 

Because there was no access from the uphill side of the embankment, the crew used spreaders and O-cutters to remove the driver’s side door that had been tightly jammed shut by the collision.  The single patient was removed and transported as a Priority 2 trauma to Suburban Hospital.  Although PEPCO crews arrived on scene promptly, it took several hours to remove the pole and wires, and to re-open Old Georgetown Road.

After the operation was complete, personnel were able to see marks in the grass from the first accident, just a few feet from the vehicle involved in the second accident.

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