Tough cars tougher on rescue workers

Costly units, tools
Leading hydraulic-tool makers such as Hurst Jaws of Life — whose namesake George Hurst introduced the first hydraulic extrication tools for auto racing in the early 1970s — must keep putting more oomph into their equipment, making it heavier and more expensive. A single Hurst cutter and power unit runs about $25,000. Add hydraulic spreaders and other tools and the price rises quickly.

A fire crew in Bonita Springs, Fla., discovered the problem last year when it rolled up on a 2007 Lexus that had overturned. Hydraulic cutters only a few years old wouldn't shear the strengthened steel roof posts, so the crew had to move quickly to cut other parts of the car. A job that should have taken a few minutes required 20 minutes of cutting and sawing to remove the driver.

Assistant Chief Ken Craft said the incident led the department to buy new heavy rescue tools costing $54,000 — a sizable expense for a city of around 40,000.

"If the automakers roll out something new next year, we could be right back where we were at," Craft said. "That's the problem we're confronted with."

Tougher than steel?
Mike Ader, a volunteer firefighter in Rockville, Md., recalled the layered-steel roof post from a 2008 Toyota Camry that wouldn't budge under the blades of a hydraulic cutter after a broadside crash Jan. 2. The patient, whose injuries were serious but not life-threatening, finally had to be maneuvered around the post.

Ader used two types of saws and numerous blades to remove the post after the patient was removed. The department quickly decided to buy a new, more powerful cutter.

The flip side, of course, is that more people are surviving horrific crashes that would have killed them just a few years ago.

The Fusion's passenger, for example, was hurt but conscious and joking with Roberts as the crew worked to get him out. The driver of the other vehicle — a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup — was dead at the scene.

With about three people hurt in car crashes every minute in the United States, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesman Rae Tyson said he is comfortable with the trade-off. Rescue workers, he said, will have to work harder to keep up with technology, just like everybody else.

"The fatality rate for passenger vehicles is the lowest in history," Tyson said. "That, to me, is a pretty good news story."

One problem for rescue workers is how to get the latest technical information about newer cars and how to deal with them.

Newer, stronger models coming
Later this year, the nonprofit group COMCARE Emergency Response Alliance, with cooperation from automakers, is introducing a single Web site that will offer schematics and safety specs for most cars on the road. Rescue workers could flip open a laptop computer on the way to a crash scene to find out about the construction of the car, placement of air bag canisters and other details.

Automakers say they are doing more to make safety information available to rescuers and tool makers before new models come out. For instance, Ford is already offering a look at the skeleton of the 2009 F-150 pickup, built with the strongest steel construction the company has ever used.

"We want to facilitate the discussion as much as possible, because we understand the critical nature of their work," Ford spokesman Wesley Sherwood said.

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