Motorcyclist dies after rescue workers drop car on him

nypost.com ^ | Sept. 2, 2011 | HANNAH RAPPLEYE and JENNIFER BAIN

[eggman]

Yes, rescue air bags have been in use for at least 20 years. Still need to use cribbing as anything can happen. Need something solid under the frame near the lift point.

I used to be a firefighter/paramedic quite a few years ago. It sucks when things go wrong but it looked like that could have been prevented. Doesn't mean the kid would have lived but it would have saved the city from a major lawsuit.

[eggman]

That was sick and uncalled for.

[NautiNurse]

Add moron to the description on your profile page. ‘Nuff said.

[cc2k]

Well, I'm not an EMT/Paramedic. My experience is at race tracks where I've worked as a corner worker and on the emergency vehicle team (fire trucks, wreckers, etc.).

If someone is trapped under a vehicle, or we have to lift one vehicle off of another, there would never be a time where there wasn't a secondary safety measure to prevent the vehicle from falling.

They should have had cribbing, jack stands, some kind of solid support under that vehicle when they put the jack in. And as it raised, the safety devices should have been raised or built up so that the vehicle couldn't fall more than a few inches, and never beyond where it started.

That video shows a horrible tragedy. But those "rescuers" were not helping with that jack. They were completely unprepared for what they were doing. Cars always fall off of jacks. You can count on that. Never support a vehicle over a person with only a jack. That's asking for an injury or death.

IMO, this wasn't so much of an accident as an act of stupidity by the "rescuers." I hope I never have an accident in an area where "rescuers" are that poorly trained and prepared.

[NautiNurse]

It’s just short of a miracle one or more of the rescue personnel weren’t injured in that mishap.

[ArrogantBustard]

One minute the 21 year old student is thinking about getting to class on time. The next minute he is facing his Creator.

Yep.

Fact is, we're ALL an instant away from facing our Creator.

Just something to keep in mind, as we go about our daily activities ...

[TomServo]

Scene right out of ‘Final Destination’.

[ken5050]

As we read this thread, some snickering, some making snide comments, please reflect that we are a few days short fo the ten year anniversary of 9/11, when some 350+ firefighters and paramedicss..the same sort of highly trained professionals who were present at this unfortunate event...fearlessly rushed into the Twin Towers..asthousands were fleeing..some climbed 100 flights of stairs....and made the ultimate sacrifice...

I am not suggetsing that anyone has been inappropriate..just that we must never forget..

[Responsibility2nd]

My thoughts exactly.

Not unless the guy was Michael Moore sized.

[Churchillspirit]

How crass.

[1raider1]

To paraphrase: And they asked him, “When will the end time come?” And Jesus answered, “no man knows, not even the Son of God.”

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Oil change?

[Clock King]

Final Destination.

[familyop]

How’s life without technically inclined rednecks? ;-)

[Deaf Smith]

That wasn't a jack they were using. It was Jaws, made for spreading metal apart.

The jaws had no stability for its base nor at the lift point and just rolled over onto its side once the angle increased.

[miele man]

Not to drag this off topic too much, but the writer does not make it clear whether the young man ran into the car or was hit by the driver of the vehicle.

I just sent this article to a friend who is an EMS dispatcher for a large urban city in the south. I’m sure there are many lessons to be learned from this.

[drjimmy]

It’s a little hard to tell from the video, but the guys working the rescue tool might be police and not fire. That would more likely explain why the rescue tool was used in a way that would never, ever be taught in an accident victim extrication course. You can see a fire guy walking by with some step cribbing, but clearly the car fell before anything could be put under it.

[ontap]

OOPS!!!!

[BraveMan]

The 70-year-old driver of the Ford . . . was later give(n) a summons for failure to yield.