More than 50 volunteer emergency personnel from Price, Taylor and Rusk counties learned the reasons for and the ways to do safe and fast extrication. An all-day class, held on Saturday, June 6, in Prentice was taught by a team of extrication experts from La Crosse.

Terry Teeters, a coordinator of the Prentice Ambulance Service, said personnel were registered from Pike Lake Fire Department, Park Falls Rescue 1, Park Falls Ambulance Service, Central Price County Ambulance Service, Prentice Fire Department, Prentice Ambulance Service, Catawba/Harmony Fire Department, Kenan/Georgetown Fire Department, Ogema Fire Company and the Brantwood Fire Department as well as emergency medical technicians and fire fighters from Rib Lake, Medford and Hawkins. He said Warga Pontiac & GMC, Inc., and Prentice Head Start were also represented.

"The Turnout was really gratifying," he said. "Extrication is no longer included as part of the basic emergency medical technician nor is it included in the fire fighter I class. It is up to us as emergency personnel to be as trained and efficient as we can be."

Teeters said he had attended a class taught by the team from LaCrosse in Phillips in October 1996. The six-member team is known as Safe and Fast Extrication or S.A.F.E.

"Their program is just excellent," he said. "They are not in the business of selling tools, like the various kinds of cutters and spreaders, often called ‘Jaws of Life,’ but are concerned with teaching the safest and fastest way to extricate victims. They concentrate on safety for the victims and the rescuers and efficient patient care."

Teeters said he knew after attending the class in Phillips that he wanted more emergency personnel to be able to take the class. He said with the cooperation of volunteer emergency personnel from other communities he was able to invite the team to Prentice.

"The people on this team are outstanding," he said. "They all have had training and practical experience as fire fighters and the team leaders have been instructors in extrication for technical schools, hospitals, and advance fire fighter courses."

Teeters said the team has also taken part in extrication competitions and are the Mid-West Regional Champions. He said the team will soon take part in national competition.

On Saturday, the extrication team leaders, John Olshanski and Kurt Wiggert, first gave an hour of classroom instruction.

"They emphasized the importance of the ‘Golden Hour’, which starts at the time of the accident and ends with the victims being cared for in the hospital," said Teeters. "They said when anyone calls 911, it is very much like a one-stop shopping trip since you get whoever is there to answer your call, whether or not they are adequately trained."

Teeters said the instructors stressed the importance of calling all the necessary personnel, including ambulance, fire department and law enforcement, to the scene right away."

After the classroom instruction, the class continued outside where several disabled vehicles and three school buses were set up. The class was divided into several groups for the hands-on sessions.

The groups were shown a variety of tools which could be used for extrication. Some of them were power tools, many of them were hand tools which could be used in a variety of ways. Each class had the opportunity to work on one or more vehicle extrications. The volunteers were required to wear their turnout gear, including coat, helmet, boots, gloves and goggles, as a safety measure.

The classes heard repeatedly about the importance of safety at any accident scene. Each instructor told their group to secure the scene, the vehicle and the patient before proceeding with a rescue. They spoke about the importance of using cribbing, especially wooden blocks and boards, rams, jacks and other materials and tools, to make sure the vehicle is secure since the goal of extrication is to remove the vehicle from around the patient so that the patient is moved as little as possible.

"One person should walk an out circle to make sure there are no hazards like downed powerlines which could pose a danger," the instructors said. "Another person should walk an inner circle, going in the opposite direction, looking in, on, under, over and around the vehicle and each should tell aloud what they find."

Teeters said many of the personnel at the day-long class had had some basic extrication training but wanted to have a refresher course and learn more as well.

"We asked specifically to have training in extrication from school buses for those personnel who have had basic extrication classes," he said. "Krug’s in Medford brought up two old buses for us to use for extrication and the Phillips School District let us use one of their handicapped accessible buses for a walk-through session to learn how to rescue handicapped people from a bus."

The instructor pointed out that on many of the handicapped accessible buses now in use, their emergency exits is powered by electricity, which may not work as the result of an accident. He showed the class where the manual controls are located and how to use them. He also pointed out that in most of the buses, the fuel tank is located right underneath the handicapped accessible emergency exit.

Teeters said the personnel who attended the class were very positive in their evaluations. He said every volunteer indicated they had learned much and felt the training had been very beneficial.

Teeters said he would like to see an extrication class offered again in the area in a couple of years.

"The Wisconsin Depart of Transportation, for whom John Olshanski works as a limited-term employee, had, in the past, provided some money for extrication training but they said they no longer have the funds," he said. "Our area emergency services department were willing to share the cost of the class, which is about $1,800, because they know the importance of the extrication training."