Somers Technical Rescue

[hudson144 150]

Again another trench situation, these will continue to happen because of others out there not following safety guidelines in place because of other mishaps throughout the nation. In this situation I understand that the IC called for help as soon as proper sizeup determined a situation that has gone bad. The availability within your own community of construction crews with front end loaders,local lumber yards with lumber for shoring etc, and in this case a Vactor Truck from Fred A. Cook from Buchanan to assist in the Rescue of the victim. A pre-plan with contact numbers for "other than FD" equipment is not a bad idea. Great job to all involved!

[JBE 328]

As someone once taught me, know what toys you have in the toybox. So you know what you can play with. It also helps to know what others have in their toyboxes, so if you need to play with those toys, you can ask for them. I know that sounds a little childish, but it has paid dividends for me over the years.

[Tanker 10eng 140]

I was impressed that it was Cook and not the Con Ed Vac, either way it was great... A question ? maybe someone knows... they were there pretty quick, were they working nearby ?? were they requested by local FD ? Local PD ? or were they notified that by their office with a trench collapse in their area, to break and go there in case.... would be nice to know how it happened...

Which ever the case, thank you Cook for showing up...

[Bnechis 3,961]

I was impressed that it was Cook and not the Con Ed Vac, either way it was great... Which ever the case, thank you Cook for showing up...

Are all VAC trucks the same?

Are all VAC trucks safe to use in a trench close to victims and rescuers?

About 1.5 years ago ConEd purchased a vacume safety release valve that gets added when working around people. It does not fit on the VAC truck for transport and is transported in a seperate vehicle.

VAC trucks are a fantastic resource at a trench incident, but they can also be very hazardous.

Its nice that Cook is willing to help.

[FirNaTine 370]

Good Job Somers FD! Looks like you handled the whole Incident without having half of Westchester there!

[jack10562 414]

ConEd's flush (vac) trucks are all situated down-county and the city, basically in the service areas where there are underground facilities in manholes. It is very likely they were either already in use or too far away to respond in a timely fashion.

[JohnnyOV 2]

We're currently going over some of our technical rescue procedures, and we're wondering how the scene was handled prior to the arrival of the TRT?

What tools did you have at your disposal prior to the collapse team arriving?

-more specifically, did you have plywood to place along the trench walls?

How deep was the trench the workers were operating in both before and after the collapse?

How was the victim positioned in the soil?

What was done to secure against additional cave in?

Were the medics down in the collapse area prior to it being secured?

Once TRT arrived with their equipment, everything looked like it went smooth with an easy transition, and it looked like it was going smooth prior to the arrival of TRT as well.

Kudos to Somers and the TRT for safely removing the victim. This is an operation we can all learn from, and shows that no community is immune to any type of technical rescue.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

Based on public knowledge (not looking for patient confidentiality info) did anybody read about the status of the patient; critical, stable, etc.

[INIT915 1,119]

Based on public knowledge (not looking for patient confidentiality info) did anybody read about the status of the patient; critical, stable, etc.

Very stable.

[JohnnyOV 2]

Based on public knowledge (not looking for patient confidentiality info) did anybody read about the status of the patient; critical, stable, etc.

Very stable.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20111026/NEWS01/110260309/Brewster-man-trench-collapse-Somers-school-will-fine-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|p

[efdcapt115 1,511]

Excellent! Great job by all involved.

[JimmyPFD 11]

Good question and info Capt. and comments regarding Cook Bill.

Dovetailing off the Vac. truck availability point:

During direct response to the scene; I took note of 2 vac trucks parked on the roads directly between Peekskill and Somers.

Beside Peekskill's truck and private sector resources; State DOT had one parked on the side of the Bear Mountain Expressway. Just good to know what's out there and was reassuring to see them on the way out there.

[JM15 386]

We're currently going over some of our technical rescue procedures, and we're wondering how the scene was handled prior to the arrival of the TRT?

What tools did you have at your disposal prior to the collapse team arriving?

-more specifically, did you have plywood to place along the trench walls?

How deep was the trench the workers were operating in both before and after the collapse?

How was the victim positioned in the soil?

What was done to secure against additional cave in?

Were the medics down in the collapse area prior to it being secured?

Once TRT arrived with their equipment, everything looked like it went smooth with an easy transition, and it looked like it was going smooth prior to the arrival of TRT as well.

Kudos to Somers and the TRT for safely removing the victim. This is an operation we can all learn from, and shows that no community is immune to any type of technical rescue.

JohnnyOV hopefully this answers some of your questions... Every call is a learning experience!! Prior to the arrival of TRT The first arriving Somers FD units surveyed the area and the hazard. Including shutting down running construction equipment and getting the other workers out of the trench. We knew right at the start that this is not an incident we can handle "by our selves" The TRT was called to assist immediately, in my mind the best thing we could do was try to stabilize the situation and try to keep it from getting worse. Rescue 20 was first due to this incident. The Rescue carries the equipment of a traditional heavy Rescue including air bags, struts, jacks, etc... We realized the need for shoring right away to prevent further collapse so we went to work with our "large" struts. Our Rescue does not carry plywood but in this case we were fortunate enough to have the custodial staff from the school come up with supplies. They found small pieces of plywood and for some of the shoring we even used old solid wood tables with no legs (adapt and overcome). The walls of the trench in the area of the victim were lined with the wood and our struts were placed in between to secure it. Im not sure about the specifics but after the victim was removed OSHA measured it at about 6 and a half feet deep. In this situation it appeared like only one side of the trench "caved in" the worker was pinned facing the other wall of the trench, he was upright but in an awkward position. When Somers units arrived on scene the dirt was about mid-chest high on the victim. Once FD units arrived on scene no one went into the trench until advanced resources arrived (TRT). 45M-2, Somers EMS, and the STAT Flight (Lifenet?) crew provided pt care from the un-collapsed side of the trench that the victim was pinned against. EMS did a great job in a tough situation. The Westchester County Technical Rescue Team arrived on scene with their apparatus and tons of manpower and were very professional. They further shored the trench and began the slow and tedious task of digging the victim out. All units worked well together and the rescue was a success.

This is just my insight into how the operation went... I hope through positive discussion we all can learn something.

[corporal 6]

I was impressed that it was Cook and not the Con Ed Vac, either way it was great... A question ? maybe someone knows... they were there pretty quick, were they working nearby ?? were they requested by local FD ? Local PD ? or were they notified that by their office with a trench collapse in their area, to break and go there in case.... would be nice to know how it happened...

Which ever the case, thank you Cook for showing up...

The town highway supervisor was on location at the command post and called cook directly for command. They had a truck in the area and sent it. NYSDOT also sent a vac truck from Peekskill and Con ED had one responding for down county.

I would like to thank all that assisted with this call, WCTRT, Cook, NYSDOT, Lifenet, NSVAC, Yorktown Fire, Somers Highway Dept., WEMS, Somers Schools Personnel, Batt. 13, Somers Dispatch, 60 Control Dispatch, NYSP, Somers Police, CON ED, and all the members of the SVFD. If i missed anyone i'm sorry. everyone did a great job thank you again.

[ja3kfd 34]

For all of you reading this The Town of Bedford owns a vactor truck as well the DOT does not always keep one in this region, Luckly the Cook truck was in the area.

[Pedro911 22]

Job well done guys.

[rayrider 94]

Does anybody know what was the initial response time of the wctrt and how many members? Nice rescue by the way.