Airbag Appreciation

ByKeith Crossler

I’ve written a few articles about car crashes. These days, it seems we don’t have the amount of calls for crashes as we used to. I guess that goes for fires too. All good things, of course. Fire prevention measures have decreased the amount of fires while technology in cars has made them withstand the crash better than their predecessors. Today, it seems we are turning a page with all electric vehicles. Those bring their own differences and challenges when it comes to the fire service. Back when I first joined up, it seemed that air bags were the big, up-and-coming thing. Going beyond the standard airbags in the front dash, we were now seeing the side curtain airbags and seatbelt tighteners. It was 2001, I was attending the Idaho State Fire School which was being held in Burley that year. It was a fun and exciting experience. Vehicle extrication was the class I chose to take. This class was mostly hands on, so I was excited to get started on cutting some cars. The instructor was a Fire Captain from the Los Angeles Fire Department. He would tell us stories during the class of multiple car pileups and how they would decide which ones to cut on first. They had designed their techniques in an effort to rapidly extricate patients knowing they would have a dozen or more at a time to take care of. We learned quick windshield cuts, how to pop the front doors, or remove the roof with the least amount of work. It really was fascinating to see the differences between what I knew to how they did their work. On one of the days, we talked about and learned the power of airbags. One of the first things they would do at a crash is cut the battery cables to completely cut the power source to the bags. In some occasions, the bags won’t deploy during the crash, but then randomly go off while the car is being cut on due to battery still being connected. For a demonstration on the force the airbag has, they had five of us sit in an old car we were about to cut up. The airbag was placed between the transmission and the ground. When they forced the bag to go, it lifted the loaded car about six inches off the ground. From that day forward, I had a whole new appreciation for what those things are capable of.

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A few years after I took that class, we had a call for a one car rollover on our infamous Reisenauer Hill. Our update was for a female patient with non-life-threatening injuries. But she was trapped in the car as it rested on its side, off the roadway. We rushed out the door in the rescue truck and hurried to the scene. Upon our arrival we did a quick size-up and found that the update was accurate, and we went to work. We spread out our gear and first stabilized the car. With it on its side, we needed to make sure it wouldn’t roll over on us as we worked to remove the roof. Once the car was stable, the windshield was cut at the roof line for a clean separation. We were able to cover the patient with a blanket so the debris wouldn’t get on her. Then, we removed the rest of the glass from the rear of the car. Our plan was to cut the upper portion of the posts and lay the roof down to the ground. We were struggling to get the cuts down with the standard hydraulic cutters. Imagine holding a 30-pound weight just above your head for a few minutes at a time while trying to make a somewhat precise cut. It wasn’t impossible but was turning out to be more difficult than expected. After a couple of failed attempts, we chose to use a different method. A Sawzall was our next choice. It would be a bit easier to hold and cut with and hopefully make the cut a bit more precise. I went to work on it in hopes to have our patient on the way to the hospital in a few minutes. I had cut through the front post and the rear post only having the main center pillar left to go. I noticed as I was ready to cut that there was an unusual looking round tube in the top rail of the car. I remember not thinking much of it at the time. It was probably just some type of a roll cage or reinforcement as it was a main support portion of the car. Squeezing the trigger to cut, I then found out what it really was. A gas cylinder for the side curtain airbags. BOOM!! Never have I been so shocked and awestruck at the same time. I took a step back and we all regrouped. The others made sure I was okay, and I went back to work on the cut. We needed to get our patient out. And we did just that. After that last cut, we laid the roof down as planned. With our now gained access, our EMT’s came in and made sure our patient was stable and we then worked together to package her on a backboard and remove her from the car. Transport to the hospital was complete so we started to pickup our gear. The fire guys made sure the car wasn’t leaking any fluids before they left. Back to the station and we then had an impromptu de-brief of the call. Overall, we completed the task. I kept going through my head all the things that were done right or wrong. We had never seen the side curtain airbags like that before, so it was definitely an eye opener for us. We talked through different scenarios, what if’s, to better prepare ourselves for the next call. Training is always great and a necessity, but it will never beat the real-life experiences of the call.

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