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Cutshin Fire & Rescue Hauls 3 Off Trails During
First Day with ATV Res-Q Trailer
CUTSHIN VOL. FIRE & RESCUE
Leslie County, Kentucky
Cutshin Fire & Rescue personnel check
out their new ATV and off-road rescue
trailer. |
In preparation to provide Emergency Medical
Services support to the upcoming "Hare
Scrambles" event on Sunday, April 1, 2007, on
Tuesday, March 27 we called ///EMERGENCY
EQUIPMENT and requested an ALL TERRAIN RES-Q
TRAILER be delivered in time to be placed into
service prior to the event. Fortunately, they
had a new ATR-2 Res-Q Trailer in stock and
delivered it Wednesday evening. On Thursday,
volunteer members of Cutshin Fire & Rescue,
familiarized themselves with the trailer as they
equipped it with the necessary medical and
rescue gear needed for back country emergencies.
With several experienced ATV operators in the
department, on Saturday, Cutshin's personnel
practiced towing the rescue trailer with their
newly acquired Suzuki 500 Vinson 4X4 ATV.
Finally, at 8:00 AM Sunday morning, 10 Cutshin
Fire & Rescue members, including 9 Firefighter /
EMT's staged the ATV and rescue trailer at the
Kentucky Hare Scrambles Championship Series
event outside of Hyden, Kentucky, and awaited
calls for assistance.
They didn't have to wait long. Around 9:30
AM, a 9 year-old boy took a spill on his
junior-mini motocross bike and suffered a
possible broken foot about a mile up the trail.
Cutshin Fire and Rescue personnel responded and
arrived just 5 minutes later. After
stabilization and being loaded onto the all
terrain rescue trailer, the boy was safely
transported by Cutshin's ATV Rescue Team back
down the trail to a waiting ambulance. A Cutshin
Fire and Rescue BLS ambulance transported the
boy to a local hospital for treatment as the ATV
rescue team returned to the staging area.
In between calls requiring ATV Rescue Team
response, Cutshin EMT's provided first aid to
riders suffering less severe injuries. Several
minor cuts, scrapes, bruises and burns were
attended to until their next dispatch at about
1:30 PM. Cutshin Fire and Rescue personnel
received a report of a 37 year-old woman who
went off the trail on a 250cc racing motorcycle,
hit a tree and continued over an embankment,
ending up 70 feet below in a creek bed. The
accident scene was 5 miles out from the staging
area and the victim was reported to be lying in
the creek complaining of an injury to her knee.
Cutshin's ATV Rescue Team responded, and arrived
within 20 minutes of dispatch. By utilizing a
steep narrow side path, they were able to get
the 4X4 ATV and rescue trailer to within 70 feet
of the victim. Once on scene, the basket
stretcher was removed from the off-road trailer
and carried over the embankment to the victim.
After packaging, additional Cutshin rescuers
carried the victim up the embankment and loaded
the patient onto the rescue trailer for
transport back to the ambulance staging area.
The difficult 5 mile return trip took under 40
minutes, which included a brief period of
pushing the ATV up a particularly steep and
muddy stretch of the trail. Back at staging, a
Cutshin Fire and Rescue BLS ambulance
transported the woman to a local hospital for
treatment. The total run time took less than one
hour. After the incident, Mr. Deron Rambo, a
Paramedic responsible for emergency services
during Kentucky Hare Scrambles Championship
Series [http://www.kyharescramble.com] events
stated:
"This rescue would have taken 4 to 5 hours
had it not been for the speed and agility of
Cutshin's ATV Rescue Team and All Terrain Res-Q
Trailer."
The final haul out of the day was a 47
year-old man who suffered a leg injury after
losing control of his racing ATV. While he
refused transportation by ambulance to a
hospital for his injuries, he accepted a ride to
his pick up truck in the new all terrain rescue
trailer. Cutshin's ATV rescue personnel
transported him approximately one quarter mile
off the trail and into the parking area to his
vehicle. It's believed he drove himself to the
hospital from there.
After our experience with the All Terrain
Res-Q Trailer during this first day of ATV
rescue operations, I would encourage any
department with the need to perform remote area
rescues to do what you have to purchase this
equipment. We called the All Terrain Res-Q
dealer on a Tuesday, took delivery of the
trailer on Wednesday, equipped it on Thursday,
trained with it on Saturday, and used it 3 times
on Sunday. Our county is similar to other rural
areas where riding and racing ATV's and
MotoCross bikes has become very popular. As
such, the 4X4 ATV and All Terrain Res-Q Trailer
have become vital additions to our remote area
rescue capabilities.
If any department needs additional
information about our ATV Rescue Team, please
Call: Chief Mike Joseph 606-279-6453, Cutshin
Vol. Fire And Rescue, PO Box 2, Yeaddiss, KY
41777, or Email:
cutshinfiredept668@yahoo.com.
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