Low Down

Ships Passing In The Night

As you recap your day’s happenings, you start to realize that your business is very much relationship oriented. For whatever reason, it never occurred to you before. But now, it is becoming very apparent that it truly is. You begin to wonder about some of your regular accounts and their frequency of utilizing your service.

Suddenly it strikes you that you never really have had a relationship with the police and fire departments. They typically call and you respond, perform your service and then leave. You have often wondered why when there is a major wreck they just call you when the casualties are ready to be towed. You’re never called earlier! Many times you arrive at an accident scene before being called, and are advised by incident command to wait until their finished and then you can perform your work. Like any other tower, you would evaluate what they are doing and wonder why wouldn’t they want help?

Well, I can tell you that it bothered me! So, the first thing I did was get in touch with the fire chief and explained that when an accident of significance comes in I would be willing to help them however I could. The chief explained to me that these firefighters are trained and have a protocol to follow. First, they determine the condition of the patient and then stabilize the vehicle to help insure that there are no further injuries to the victim. They don’t want that vehicle to move whatsoever because of possible spinal injuries. Once the victim is stabilized as best as possible, extrication begins. This is where they use the Jaws of Life for either cutting or spreading to free the victim. I don’t think I have to tell you that no two accidents are the same, however, the techniques utilized by fire departments will eventually free their victim. Then, of course, there are times that the typical protocol or procedures just don’t work or simply take enormous amounts of time. Time is against injured victims that are pinned. Fire fighters attempt to observe the “Golden Hour Rule.”

In cases of severe trauma, especially internal bleeding, nothing can replace surgical intervention. Complications such as shock may occur if the patient is not managed appropriately and expeditiously. It therefore becomes a priority to transport patients suffering from severe trauma as fast as possible to specialists, most often found at a hospital trauma center for definitive treatment. Because some injuries can cause a trauma patient to decompensate extremely rapidly, the lag time between injury and treatment should ideally be kept to a bare minimum; over time, this lag time has come to be specified as a now-standard time frame of no more than 60 minutes known as the “Golden Hour,” after which time the survival rate for traumatic patients is alleged to fall off dramatically.

When I was owned a towing business I decided that I needed to train with the fire department and work on cutting down the time to extricate victims and so should you. The more practice the more proficient the practice becomes. After a period of time of donating junk vehicles for the practice sessions you will start to build a relationship with your fire department. They will start realizing that you have knowledge of what you do and that you’re not just a chain slinging operator. Integrate your services and your knowledge to those sessions. Explain to them that when you’re on scene that there are more powerful tools at their disposal. A tow truck can perform many functions in assisting with extrications, sometimes faster and better than the tools they’re using. But remember, they have to be comfortable with your abilities.

Once you have accomplished this relationship you will reap the rewards. You’ll have that entire department talking about your services and expertise to many local residents and their family members. Let’s face it, it’s always nice to have people who are admired bragging about your company, in an industry that more times than not, are looked down upon. Not only will your private calls increase but when the next serious accident happens you may get called to assist. Keep in mind that fire departments have the luxury of calling directly for your service in the name sake of public safety, no matter who is next up on rotation. That’s right; every contract reserves that right for the city.

So, the next time you’re thinking about relationships, keep in mind that they’re all important but the ones with your police and fire departments are extremely important. Unfortunately, you probably don’t have one. Many operators have said to me that they are fearful of getting involved. They fear liability, if

by John Borowski