Chesterfield arrived on scene and reported vehicle overturned victims trapped.
The thermostat read nearly one hundred degrees with high humidity on July 28 when Chesterfield crews were dispatched at 12:09 p.m. for a MVA in a shopping complex.
Responding on the initial dispatch were Engine 11, Medic 11 and Chesterfield County Police. First on scene reported multiple vehicles involved, one vehicle overturned with entrapment,possible multiple patients.
Truck 3 was dispatched, then Engine 15 and Medic 15 added as an additional upgrade. As patient assessments were being done Medic 1 was dispatched. In command was Battalion 1 and monitoring the situation was Safety 1. Chesterfield County Police set up a perimeter, handled traffic and crowd control and assisted firefighters with the accident victims.
The overturned mini-van which was resting on its side on a curb. Engine 11 stretched a hand line the vehicle was foamed underneath to prevent fire from the leaking fluids.
Medics assessed patients while firefighters gathered tools and prepared for the extrication.
Two patients were trapped in the unstable mini-van. Multiple steps were in action at the same time. Several firefighters began placing cribbing under the mini-van while a medic monitored the victims. Another firefighter covered the victims inside the mini-van with a protective blanket and the partially broken windshield was chipped down with an axe.
The cribbing was still not enough to completely stablize the vehicle and lift it high enough to allow extrication of an injured patient, so an air pillow was placed. Carefully the firefighters were able to raise the mini-van just enough to safely removed the injured driver of the vehicle.
The driver who had been backboarded was extricated then packaging was completed. The patient was placed in a waiting Medic unit for transport to the hospital. Medics and firefighters then began extrication of trapped victim number two who was also injured.
Victim number two was seatbelted in and up in the air in their seat on the passenger side. Multiple firefighters braced the victim while extrication was in process. The patient was then backboarded, packaged and placed in a Medic unit for transport.
While the extrication was in process, Medics were treating and packaging patients 3 and 4. All four patients were transported to local hospitals.
The mini-van proved to be a constant challenge for crews and additional stablizing with more cribbing was needed.
The cause of the accident is under investigation. Police have not said if charges will be filed.
