[nascarnation]

I’m sure some firefighters/EMTs/paramedics will chime in, but don’t rescue guys typically use high pressure inflatable bags now for this kind of work?

[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.

[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.